


Just Judy

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Interns - Freeform, Outsider view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 43,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26201779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Judy was Ms. Tolliver's newest intern.
Comments: 135
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is written from a prompt given to me by pillar_of_salt. May make it a series.

“Ladies!” The voice called out from outside the room, it wasn’t a snap, not this morning anyway, but they still jumped to their feet, pens and paper in hand and rushed as fast as they could to respond. It was only through regular practice that they appeared in the open doorway without crashing into one another, like some ballet performance, each sliding into place. Hitting their marks with learned precision. Alice had been interning for Chief of Staff Tolliver for eleven months, the longest any intern in recent memory has lasted, and Kelly had survived four.

It wasn’t that working for Ms. Tolliver was hard, they’d each logged enough hours to know the woman wasn’t the monster rumors would make her out to be, but she expected a certain level of professionalism, a certain degree of class and that bar being set so high tended to lead to unexpected consequences. Consequences like higher than normal turnover of her interns.

Kyle, the most recent third intern, had only lasted five weeks.

“Good morning, Ma’am.” Alice chirped, simultaneously wondering how long this would take and what her boss needed.

Nadine, already opening the day’s schedule Blake had left on the desk, glanced over her glasses at the two women in the doorway and then back to the petite, nervous looking young thing sitting in a chair. “Alice, Kelly, this is Judith. She’s replacing Kyle.” Her face soured at the name. It would be a long time before she forgot Kyle’s transgression and even longer before she forgave it. “Please show her to her desk and get her settled in. I’m sure both of you have more than enough work to share with her, yes?” She waited for matching nods. “Good. That is all.” She summarily dismissed all three.

Neither Alice nor Kelly said a word as they rushed back to the main office, Judith trailing behind. Once they were at the row of desks designated for the Chief of Staff’s interns, Alice turned back to the new girl with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Judith.”

Judith stared back at them; brown eyes wide as she tried to take everything in. “Please, just Judy.”

“Judy. Got it. I’m Alice and this is Kelly, we’ll help you get settled in a bit but we have a lot of work going on and I hope you can learn fast and think on your feet.”

“I- I can do that.”

Kelly frowned, turning to Alice. “We can’t have another confidence problem; it will be Stacey all over again.”

“Okay, Judy, here’s the crash course rules to live by. I’ve been interning under Ms. Tolliver nearly a year and I’ve seen a lot of interns come and go, so I’ll try to cover the few big ones and we’ll feel out the rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Confidence. Whatever you do, be fully committed. Never answer with a question because you’re unsure. It’s totally better to be wrong than not know. I mean, it’s bad to be wrong, but you get my drift.” Alice turned and pointed down the long room of desks. “Also, see that open space at the end before the last room back there? That’s all no-man’s land. Never, ever go past the end desk.”

“If you need something from the atrium, you go this way and around.” Kelly pointed the doorway behind them. “Believe me, it’s not worth the time you think you’ll save to ever go up there.”

“You can talk to anyone in the outer office out here, any of the other interns and assistants except never directly address the desk at the end. We report to Ms. Tolliver and if something needs to go to the last desk or higher, she will take care of it.”

“What if someone talks to me?”

Both women turned back to Judy. “They won’t.” They answered in unison. “All the senior staff know whoever sits at these desks belongs to Ms. Tolliver alone.” Alice carried on. “If they need us to do something, they will go to her and she will pass it along.” She saw the worried look on Judy’s face. “Hey, this is actually a decent place to work. Compared to some gigs, we have one clear-cut boss and don’t have to worry about territory fights over our time and work. And she treats us well.”

“Just remember the rules.” Kelly shook her head, taking a seat at her own desk. “That guy you’re replacing? She gave him a pass on a lot because he was younger and greener than most interns she takes on, but then he broke a big rule and was gone before the day finished.”

“Wha- What’d he do?”

Both women looked around before Alice leaned in. “He broke the worst rule of all. He put a binder together and bypassed Ms. Tolliver, every single rung on any ladder and took it to the Secretary’s office. He claimed he couldn’t find any of the other staff, but none of us are allowed to ever go down there and that was just…it. What I heard was the Secretary simply thanked him for the paperwork, but Ms. Tolliver walked in behind him and that was that, he boxed up his things and was out the door.”

“Oh. Okay.” Judy looked apprehensively at the other end of the room. “Do we do anything else? Or just calls and paperwork? How do I know who to put through?”

“We’ll help you, but don’t worry, she’ll forgive a few times till you get your feet under you.” Alice shifted some of the folders from her desk to Judy’s. “We take turns working early and late and we rotate lunches, so someone is always available. Ms. Tolliver works a long day. So, if you need to schedule something away from the office, let me know ahead of time so we can plan.”

Nodding in understanding, Judy accepted the files and got to work, keeping her head down until Kelly was telling her it was time to stop for lunch.

“We’ll go together today.” Kelly found her bag and walked toward their boss’s office, she was on the phone, so Kelly and Judy waited in the hall until the call ended and they were waved in. “We’re just going to lunch, Ma’am.”

“Okay. Enjoy.” She barely looked their way as she spoke, but then called out. “Wait! Kelly.” She waited for them to turn back. “When you get back, Matt could use a hand with some research he’s doing ahead of the dinner next week, so please come see me and I’ll get you two together. His assistant’s out for the week and he could really use the extra help of someone who’s a bit better at research than, well, he is.” A knowing smirk twitched at her lips.

“Sure, Ma’am. Not a problem.”

Nadine was already back to reviewing whatever was in her hand. “Thank you. On your way through, please warn Alice to avoid Blake. He’s on his way back from the White House.” She glanced up only long enough to smirk and give a tiny huff of amusement.

Leading the way back through, Kelly passed on the message before digging out her phone from a locker and making their way to the elevators.

Once they were in the canteen, Judy started to pepper her with questions. “Who’s Matt?”

“The head speechwriter. Normally he has an assistant, Danny, but he’s been out a lot lately. He, uh, he has cancer, so some days he comes in as much as he can but there are days he just can’t. He’d been getting pressure to just take the time off to recover, maybe he’s finally taken it.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

“It’s sad. Danny’s a great guy.” Kelly drew a breath. “Matt’s like one of these ‘stoner dude’ personalities and just really laid back and a lot of fun, so working with him is nice. Danny’s been under him longer than I’ve been here.”

Judy followed her through the line and to a table. “And who was the other guy she mentioned?”

“Hmm? Oh, Blake. He’s the desk at the end. He’s the other outer-office boss, he and Ms. Tolliver co-run everything.”

“So, he’s not like Matt then?” She had you warn Alice about him.

Kelly speared a bite of her salad and shrugged. “He’s a bit all over. Honestly, I’ve almost never talked to him and opinions vary a lot about what he’s really like. Look, working for Ms. Tolliver is one of the better positions; I have some friends over at the White House, depending on who they work for, it can be rough working over there. The President’s Chief of Staff? That man’s nasty, he goes through interns like water under a bridge. Here today, gone tomorrow.”

“Is that what she meant when she said that Blake had been over there? Was he dealing with that guy?”

“Who knows. He rarely comes back from there in a good mood. I do know the budget hearings are around the corner and while that’s on the Hill, maybe it had to do with something over at the White House. If it affects us, they’ll tell us.”

“Well, I’m glad to have the job. It’s been hard deciding just what I want to do next in life, this maybe will give me direction. Or tell me what to avoid.”

Kelly laughed. “Seven is a good place to start. The Seniors are all protective and even territorial of their interns and assistants, so we get treated pretty well. Alice has a couple cool stories and, like I said, the other assistants and aides have been here longer. At least one Friday night a month, a bunch of us go out for drinks, you should come.”

“Okay. Sure. That sounds like fun.” She sat up a bit straighter, it did sound fun to get to know her new coworkers.

When the pair returned, the seventh floor seemed quieter than when they’d left. Judy put part of that down to the decrease in staff due to lunch, but she doubted that was all. “Did something happen?” She asked Alice.

Alice didn’t answer Judy right away, instead turning to Kelly first. “Ms. Tolliver said she has the research information for you from Matt. He needs it by the end of the day today, so she asked that you make it your only priority.” As Kelly walked away, she turned back to Judy. “Just after you two left, Blake came back and tore through directly to the corner office. He’s not usually a hot head, but something got him steamed up. The Secretary turned up on the next elevator and she didn’t look happy either but not like him. Haven’t seen either one since.” She hoisted up a binder. “But Ms. Tolliver dropped this by about twenty minutes ago and asked if we can start reviewing it and flagging anything that is an edit from the copy in this binder.” She rested her free hand on a second one. “It’s only five-hundred pages, so we should be able to break it up easily; she’s wanting to take the edited copy home tonight to review before the meeting tomorrow morning.”

Judy took the binder. “So just looking for changes?”

“Every item change, wording, punctuation. All of it. I have a copy, you start at page one, I’ll start and two-fifty-one and when we’re done, we’ll combine the two.” She stood. “I’m going to eat, if you want, you can bring it into the breakroom and work and keep me company?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She followed and then took in the breakroom as Alice moved around.

A woman took that moment to excitedly rush in. “Oh! Alice! I have some gossip!” Her voice was low to not draw outside attention. “Who’s this?”

“Judy, Ms. Tolliver’s latest intern. Judy, this is Carla; she works under the press coordinator.”

“Yes, yes.” Carla offered her hand. “All rumor-mill and gossip-mill stuff is one hundred percent confidential.” She waited for Judy to nod. “Daisy was talking to Matt and I didn’t hear the whole thing, but she asked him if Blake really punched a senator! I hoped for more, but they realized I was walking in and they clammed up.”

Judy watched Alice’s jaw drop as she slid into a chair, a yogurt in her hand as she began leafing through pages. She felt compelled to ask, since she didn’t know anyone yet. “Could it be true?”

Carla shrugged. “If it is, it’s way out of the norm for him. But who knows? He’s been under a super ton of stress lately.” She was about to say more, but Nadine swept in, pausing and then narrowing her eyes.

“Alice!” She sounded aghast. “This better not be you working through lunch! I’ve told you, that’s entirely unacceptable.” She leaned over the table and shut the binder in front of her longest-working intern. “Obviously, I can’t make you leave the floor to take your lunch, but you know I strictly forbid you not taking a break entirely.” Her eyes darted from Carla to Judy. “Don’t follow Alice’s example.” She waved a warning finger in the air. “Take your breaks. Around here, the next one is never guaranteed.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Nadine swept to the kettle to start tea, gathering supplies while the water heated. “Now, as far as the highly inappropriate gossip sharing I walked in on, you know this is not the kind of workplace where such things can be tolerated, and it’s absolutely forbidden. It’s far too easy to end up with another international incident because of some offhand comment someone made in confidence.” She gathered the drink as she finished making it, throwing the garbage away before moving to leave, turning back in the doorway. “Stick to the facts. The Secretary and Blake had a private meeting with Mister Jackson and Senator Salazar.” The hard look on her face shifted for a split second into something perhaps a bit…mischievous before it vanished just as fast and she was gone.

“Who’s that?” Judy tried to catch up that their boss had just lectured them on gossiping and then possibly helped add to it.

Carla practically was squee-ing as Alice pulled a face. “Senator Salazar. Also known as Senator Sleazebag.”

Carla rushed to take a seat. “It would be totally imaginable for Blake to punch him. Still out of character, but Senator Sleazebag? If anyone were going to make him cross the line, I think it would be him.”

“I don’t know.” Alice was shaking her head, doubtful. “I still can’t see him doing it.” She glanced at the doorway again before flipping the binder back open. “And I don’t see where Ms. Tolliver has any room to get on my case about working through lunch when I know full well that tea was hers and she’s working while drinking it.”

“Why is he a sleazebag?” Judy couldn’t help asking.

“It’s all rumors, but apparently word is he’ll make inappropriate comments or these weird touches. I heard that the meetings are at the White House because Seven has no cameras and he’s banned from coming up here.” She shrugged. “I have no idea. Anyway…” She checked her watch. “I need to get back to my desk. If you hear any fireworks, remember to share later!” She giggled as she left.

==

It was after five when Alice had loaded up Judy’s arms with the binders and asked her to go drop them off to their boss. Much of the outer floor had cleared out already, just a few stragglers here and there. Carefully making her way up the hall, Judy realized she could hear voices from inside Ms. Tolliver’s office, the blinds were shut but the door was open.

“I would’ve fired you for that… It was inappropriate and so far outside your place. What in the hell were you thinking?”

Judy’s brows shot up hearing her boss swear.

“I was thinking of what could happen next.” The voice was male, despondent.

There wasn’t any sound in the room for a minute and then Judy heard her boss again, this time her voice was gentler. “Okay, but you can’t let yourself go there every time, it will destroy you.” Judy heard her sigh. “You managed to put the fear of god into the entire outer staff when you came back.” There was an edge of amusement now. “I haven’t even accomplished that.”

“I’m sorry.”

The next silence dragged on so long, Judy wondered if it was the right opportunity to make herself known, but then her boss spoke again. “You need to separate what happened to you from what happens to everyone else, it’s not always going to be the same situation; you need to talk to someone. A professional someone. Now. I think we’ve covered the schedule for tomorrow as it stands now, I’m taking home the binders to review tonight, my girls have been marking them up for me today. I’m guessing the Secretary hasn’t made any moves to leave yet?” There was the soft shuffle of feet on carpet. “Thank you for the fresh tea and food; go take whatever you made for the Secretary to her and I’ll let you know when I’m leaving.”

Judy saw it as her opportunity and walked the final steps to the open doorway, knocking on the glass. “Ma’am, I have the binders completed.”

Nadine smiled. “Oh, good! Perfect timing.” She waved to a spot on her desk. “Just leave them here.”

Judy crossed the room, not looking yet at the man standing from his spot on the couch and straightening his suit. “Will that be all for today?”

“Oh, yes. If one of you could be here a half hour early tomorrow? I may need a few extra things. How bad were the revisions?”

“Um. My half didn’t have too many I guess?” The man snorted, earning a withering glare from her boss. “I don’t really have much to compare it to yet.”

“Thank you, Judith.” Nadine pointed to the man finally. “As you’re here, Judith, this is Blake Moran, personal assistant to the Secretary and today, maker of floor wide gossip headlines.” The frown that followed seemed to be covering a slightly amused twinkle in her eye. “Blake, my newest intern, Judith.”

Judy turned, greeting and seeing him for the first time as she offered her hand. “Just Judy, please.”

He shook her hand and then turned back toward Nadine as Judy began to leave. She was just around the corner when she heard him speak. “Well, she looks smarter than Kyle was.”

“I think your tie is smarter than Kyle was.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo.... this is a multi chapter now?

It was the first morning Judy was in early on her own. The floor was quiet, she’d taken all of Kelly and Alice’s instructions to heart and was fully ready to help out when Ms. Tolliver strolled through the doorway, seemingly surprised to see her there already.

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to be here quite so early, Judy. Could you come to my office?” Nadine carried on, leading them into her office and waving to the chairs as she hung up her coat and stowed her bags away. “Word came down last night that to get this latest clean energy agreement through, we’re going to host the India delegation here for a state dinner and assorted talks. It’s about as last minute as one of these things can get, so I’m hoping I can give you the job of keeping in contact with the Office of Protocols downstairs with every plan revision.”

“Of course, Ma’am. Whatever you need.”

“I’m going to do something I don’t normally do so if you’re not comfortable with it, please speak up.” Nadine drew a small breath. “I am hoping you will work with Jay Whitman on this, I have to accompany the Secretary for some meetings and I simply won’t be on hand if a problem arises. Jay will liaise with the other staff and if you run into trouble, he’ll be the one you talk to. Is that arrangement good for you?”

The ask surprised Judy, in her few short weeks on the floor, she’d discovered that the Chief of Staff was as territorial of her interns as the other two had suggested. Her third day in, she’d been halfway to the printer when a small man showed up angry and ranting and had caught her in the aisle. She’d been stunned in place by his confusing outburst until Ms. Tolliver had appeared, seemingly materialized out of nowhere, but Judy figured she’d probably been able to hear his voice carrying through the floor. Her boss had simply addressed him ‘ _Russell_ ’ and the angry man had stopped mid word, looking between her boss and herself before addressing her boss back with ‘ _shit, she’s one of yours’_.

“I’m okay with that.” Judy decided that if her boss was okay with it, as protective as she was, then it was probably fine. “I’ve not officially met him, only saw him in passing.”

“Right.” Nadine leaned to the side, looking through the windows between the offices and finding them all still dark. “As soon as he’s in, I’ll come find you.”

“Nadine!” A female voice drew out into five syllables and in a tone more appropriate from a preschooler. Judy turned to see who it was, finding herself looking at her boss’s boss. “Blake not in yet?”

“No, Ma’am. Is there something I can help you with?” She thought her boss sounded more amused than anything.

The petulant tone continued. “No. Not unless you secretly have donuts.”

“Sorry, Ma’am, I do not. Blake is on his way though and his last message said he has chocolate croissants and two kinds of Danish with him, plus lattes because he said, and I’m quoting here, ‘Lattes are for planning state dinners’.”

Judy watched the Secretary grin excitedly. “Mind if I sit then.” The Secretary entered fully, dropping her bags and coat before sinking onto the couch. “We could save time and just review the schedule now?”

“Before Blake arrives? He’ll have an episode.” Judy turned back to see her boss shaking her head. “These things drive him to the brink enough on their own, we don’t need you nudging him over the edge.”

It felt odd, sitting right in the room with them while they had a conversation as if she weren’t there, but as an intern, that was the job, and the conversation was lighthearted enough that Judy decided to simply take it in before the day started.

“I won’t nudge him over the edge. I just… Think he works better under a little pressure.” The Secretary gave a wry smile. “He’ll be fine.”

Judy recognized the exasperated look her boss gave over the top of her glasses before she began to look over paperwork again. “And you’re not having him help Jay with Protocols either. I’m going to have Judy keep up with running between Jay and Protocols while we’re out.” She started to say more, but someone spoke from the doorway, making Judy turn in her seat again.

“Why are we in here?” She watched Blake look between them before giving a huff and gathering his boss’s abandoned things. “I have breakfast in your office, Ma’am, when you’re ready to go there. And then we can go over today’s schedule changes.” He began to herd her out, leaving only Judy and Nadine behind.

“Looks like Jay’s here as well.” Nadine stood. “Give me a minute.”

==

Judy sat back at her desk, slumping. She’d spent all day making trips down to the Protocols office each time information changed about the dinner. Twice, she’d been tempted to speak to Jay when the staff downstairs had expressed frustration about the changes, but each time she’d bit her tongue.

“Rough day?’ Kelly raised a brow at her.

“Who knew planning a dinner was so much work.” Judy shook her head. “Protocols really hates changes.”

“Have they been giving you a hard time?”

She shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Ms. Tolliver said to let Jay know if you run into problems. Maybe you should let him know so he can decide if he needs to go down himself.”

“Yeah.” She relented. “It’s weird though going to him directly.” She drew a fortifying breath. “I’ll go talk to him.” She worked for a few minutes on her next task until she’d found her nerve and stood, heading for the office next to her boss’s.

==

“Cecil, come on, don’t you know Judy is one of Nadine’s interns?” Jay was standing in the Protocols office a short time later. “Please stop giving her a hard time or the next visit, no doubt, will be Nadine down here.”

“I was under the impression she was doing your bidding today.” The older man volleyed back.

“How about we just operate on the assumption that all requests come from the top, shall we?” Jay finished up, walking down the hall with Judy trailing behind.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem. I told Nadine I’d handle it if they gave you a hard time.” He shrugged. “Cecil gets a bit touchy about last minute changes, but sometimes they can’t be helped.” Pressing the elevator button, they waited to get a ride back upstairs. “So how is the job going?”

“Um. Good.” She awkwardly waited for the doors to open, eyes straight ahead.

“That’s good.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “The three of you getting along well?”

Judy glanced his way, brows knitting together in confusion.

“She had an intern a while back, never quite fit in with the others she was working with.” He led her into the elevator when it arrived. “It’s good when you get along with your coworkers.”

Judy nodded but didn’t reply and the conversation ended.

It was late afternoon before Judy looked from her desk to see her boss returning, the Secretary and Blake with her. Standing, she fell into step when Nadine broke away from the pair and headed to her own office.

“Did everything go okay with Protocols?” Nadine asked as she put her jacket and other things away.

“Yes, Ma’am. Everything went smoothly.” She ducked her face when her boss gave her a disbelieving look.

“Doubtful. It’s okay to say they were being disagreeable.” She scoffed. “I’ve been dealing with them for years.”

“It wasn’t too bad, Ma’am. And Mister Whitman had a word with them when they started giving me a hard time.”

“Respectfully, I hope.” Judy watched her settled behind her desk. “I don’t have anything else extra for you, not this late in the day, but if you could ask Alice to come in? I’d like to get an update on what she’s been working on.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She turned from the doorway, heading to speak to her coworker. Once that was accomplished, Judy made her way to the breakroom for fresh coffee. Jay was already in the breakroom in a heated conversation with the woman Judy knew was the head press secretary.

“Josephine from the gaggle said her contact in India swears he’s coming.” Daisy’s voice was soft, but insistent. “We have to say something to get him disinvited!”

Jay put his hand up as if to try and calm her down some. “It’s all rumors, Daisy. We can’t go around accusing someone based on rumors.” He moved out of the way as Judy tried to skirt around them. “And we’re only guessing anything happened at all, he’s never said a word to me. Has he said anything to you?”

Daisy huffed. “Well, no.”

“Look, he’s a grown man. I know you want to try and protect and help him because you’re close, but if you make a big thing of it and it’s not true? He’ll be pissed beyond measure.” He sighed. “Leave it alone. We’ll get the official finalized attendee list for everyone accompanying the diplomats tomorrow. If he says something then, then _maybe_ you could quietly make something happen.”

Judy finished up stirring her coffee and made to leave as Daisy replied. “If it’s true though, I feel really bad. You know?”

“Yeah. I know.”

Finding her way back to her desk, Judy wondered who it was they’d been talking about. She knew the seniors seemed to have wide but overlapping circles of friends in most of the branches and level of office around DC, so it would be near impossible to speculate. She also knew already that the press secretary seemed to know and keep close many people who could provide insider information on any rumors before they started. Pushing it out of her mind, she returned to finished her stack of files for the day.


	3. Chapter 3

Judy was standing in front of Alice’s desk helping organize files so they could split the work as the senior staffers came through. Quickly moving to the side to avoid being bumped, just glanced up to try and gauge their moods. The Secretary was in the middle between Nadine and Matt with Blake and Daisy trailing behind. In front of them all, walking backward, strode Jay. They looked like some kind of dance, moving as one unit. Turning back to Alice, Judy put down the files. “Meeting time?”

“Looks like it.” Alice collected what she needed while Judy did the same, walking together to Nadine’s office to wait for her to loop around and meet them there.

“Perfect.” Nadine seemed to sigh as she rushed in. “Please start with the list of calls I need to make, ladies. It’s going to be a busy two days and I want to know if any calls come in related to this dinner.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and nearly collapsed into her chair. “Also, Judy, this came up so fast that I nearly forgot to ask but I offer all my interns the opportunity to attend an event. See what happens, what to expect. If you’re looking to make a career in Washington, it’s never too early to start making contacts for yourself. Alice already has other plans, but Kelly is going to meet up with a few contacts she’s made before. If you’re free, it would be good for your career.”

“Oh. Um, yeah. I guess I could go.”

“Get with Kelly then when she gets back from lunch and she’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Alice? Can you find me the contact number for the Indian Foreign Minister’s aide?”

“Right away.” Alice rushed out of the office to find what her boss needed.

Nadine sighed, glancing up to see Judy still there. “Sorry, long day. If you could keep on top of the files I saw you working through when we came in? The day to day stuff can’t get lost in the chaos of this India dinner.”

Judy could see how weary her boss looked, more so that she’d seen her before in the time she’d been working there. “Yes, Ma’am.” She repeated before bypassing her desk and heading to make her some tea that she was already well familiar that her boss drank. It wasn’t something she’s ever done, and she’d never seen the other two do it. She’d seen the Secretary’s assistant bring it in once or twice, but that was it. Collecting the mug, she made her way back to the office, slowing her steps when she looked up to see her Ms. Tolliver standing in her doorway addressing Matt.

“Get in here immediately.”

Matt had been walking back to his own office, Judy assumed, but he turned back to her boss and put his hands out, spluttering an attempted protest.

“You want to discuss this? Then we’ll discuss this, but not in the hall.” Nadine shepherded him in. Judy made it to the doorway before it closed.

“Ma’am? I thought you might like a drink?” She made herself known, drawing a stunned look from her boss and a hint of amusement from Matt.

“That’s not your job.”

“I- I’m sorry, Ma’am. I just thought you looked like you might appreciate it.” She didn’t move any further until her boss sighed, waving her the rest of the way in.

“Thank you.” She sounded resigned. “I do appreciate it, but please, it’s not what you’re here to do.” As she spoke, she pulled open a drawer and picked up a bottle.

Judy took it as a dismissal and left, pulling the door shut behind her.

==

Taking care not to trip on the hem of her gown, Judy followed the crowd through the entrance of the White House and began to look around for Kelly.

“Hey! That color looks amazing on you!” Kelly gushed as she approached. “Coat check is this way and then we can start circulating. All the bigwigs are in the room on the other side, but from what I’ve heard, our party’s a lot more fun.” She looped her arm through Judy’s and led her away. “This is where we get to chat comfortably with aides from other branches. There are a bunch of White House staffers here, but also from the pentagon and then a few up higher in Congress. It’s like the great backchannel pool while the glitz happens, but you never know who will pop in.” Kelly grinned and leaned close. “Keep your eyes and ears open all the time, because occasionally, someone from the other room will turn up to have a word with their aide. It’s a great chance to get an idea of who is working for who.”

Judy looked around the room, there were a hundred or more people milling about. “This is amazing.”

“Right? Oh! See that blonde over there? In the pink dress? That’s Russell Jackson’s new intern.” Judy stared at the nervous looking girl. “That’s also the Secretary’s daughter.”

Judy’s jaw dropped, though now that Kelly’d mentioned it, she could see it.

“She only just started for him, so I’m guessing this is her first event. The rumor mill has been pretty light on her work so far.”

“Wait.” Something caught Judy’s eye. “The seniors aren’t in the other room?”

“Ms. Tolliver is as is the assistant, the others come and go. They can’t be officially there for the dinner, but afterward they go in. Don’t get any ideas that you might be able to talk to them though, they’re a hundred percent on duty tonight.”

“Really? More than everyone else here is?” She couldn’t forget that her purpose of coming was to network.

“It depends, but judging by the looks on their faces, something’s going down.” Kelly pointed out, alluding to the deep frowns Matt and Daisy were wearing. “If Matt’s not having a good time? It’s serious.”

Judy could understand that. Other than during the dressing down she’d caught part of the day before, she’d not seen Matt upset since she’d started. “Ms. Tolliver was angry with him about something yesterday.”

“Like?”

“No idea. Hauled him in to discuss something privately.”

“Maybe he went out bar hopping with foreign aides again.” She shrugged it off. “Come here, there are a few people I want you to meet.” Kelly dragged her off to get to know a few aides from the Vice President’s staff.

Over an hour later, Judy managed to find a place to sit out of the way without being noticed. Her feet were killing her already. She’d blocked almost everyone out until she realized she recognized the voices coming closer to where she was sitting.

“Daisy, Nadine said under no uncertain terms are any of us allowed to say or do anything that will cause an international incident.” Jay’s voice was sharp, authoritative.

“Did you see what just happened out there?” Daisy’s voice was high, Judy could tell the other woman was angry as well. “We’re supposed to just pretend all’s well while she’s rushing to make excuses to cover that? That was a panic attack!”

“You’re assuming.” Jay pressed. “What we saw could’ve been a coincidence.”

“Right.” Matt’s voice cut through the music. “He walks in and then it’s totally a coincidence that in the next moment Nadine’s having to make excuses to clear out of the room. I don’t know, I’m not seeing that as coincidence.”

“What you’re going to be seeing is Nadine ripping us all to pieces of we’re still having this conversation when she comes to check on us.” Jay shook his head. “Until anyone says something, we all keep out mouths shut about what we think happened. Got it?”

Both Daisy and Matt agreed reluctantly. Daisy tried once last time, however. “But are we really going to let him get back on a plane tomorrow and dodge all this?”

“Yes.” Jay answered. “Until anyone says otherwise, nothing happened.”

Daisy huffed, but the conversation ended until Nadine did turn up a short time later.

“It’s late, you’re all free to go.” Nadine addressed the trio. It was clear from where Judy was still sitting that Nadine could see that they were beside themselves wanting to ask questions. “The Secretary and Blake just left. I was about to call Doctor McCord and let him know they’re gone and then I’m going myself as soon as I check on my girls. Look. I know you are worried, and I understand your concern, but I can’t divulge what I know. What I can say is you can’t push this.” Judy could hear the stress in her words. “You can’t be involved in any way. You will only make it worse. So please, for the sake of all involved, leave it alone.”

Judy hoped that more would be said, but Kelly found her just then, talking about someone she’d just talked with and bringing the senior team’s attention to them.


	4. Chapter 4

“And I think that’s all for today.” Nadine finished up the meeting with her interns. “Thank you for taking care of everything.” She was just dismissing them as the office door popped open and Blake stuck his head in.

“I have an update?” Judy watched her boss wave for him to carry on. “I got the SVTC scheduled except I could only make it happen at one forty-five.”

“She had a meeting at two-”

“I know.” Blake cut off with a frown. “But I was thinking that you could take the meeting and then I don’t have to make forty-seven phone calls to perform schedule jujitsu.”

Nadine scoffed. “The Secretary sign off on this?”

“I’m taking a page from your book and sourcing a solution before I tell her the problem.” Judy saw him grin as if he knew it would get her boss to agree and it seemed he was right as she sighed, returning his look with a fond one.

“Fine. Sort it all out.” She waved him away before turning to the interns. “In that case, I’ll need two of you to accompany me to the meeting at the White House.” She looked between them. “Alice? How about you and Judy, you’ve sat in on quite a few of these, you can tell her what I need and what to do.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Alice agreed as they all stood.

“Meeting is at two, be ready to go by half past one so we have time to finalize and get over there.”

==

Judy had been almost overwhelmed sitting through the meeting, trying to watch everyone as the discussion carried on. Her boss had begun to raise her voice at her White House counterpart over a procedure and if it should be handed over to Defense, but the man had quickly backed off the idea, shooting her a look before muttering under his breath that he missed Bess. Judy had thought her boss would bristle, but instead a pleased smirk of victory angled her lips.

As everyone began to leave, Judy turned to Alice with her pages of notes. “Are meetings always like that?”

Alice shrugged. “Most are really boring. Every once in a while you get one that’s full of fireworks, if that ever happens just keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. Now, make sure your notes are in order, Ms. Tolliver will want to review them on the ride back.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Hey.” Alice patted her arm. “You can learn a lot if you just pay attention to what’s going on around you.” They began to follow their boss into the hall until she was stopped for a pull aside. Judy realized Alice must’ve overheard something because her face lit up. “Let’s sit over here.” Alice tugged her to a set of chairs.

Judy watched with interest as most of the officials cleared out while Ms. Tolliver talked to Mr. Jackson. Once the hall was clear, the President joined them, his voice carrying further than the other two.

“Nadine, I just wanted to touch base and let you know that I looked into what you approached me about last week. While I hate that I can’t do anything further without an official complaint, I have had Russell arrange to prevent the person you told me about from traveling anytime in the future.” Judy couldn’t make out what her boss’s reply was, but then POTUS spoke again. “And Bess still isn’t on board?” There was real concern evident in his voice. “Controlling diplomatic travel is her purview, you know. I’m certain this would all be a cakewalk for her to handle.” The other two spoke more, Judy tried to listen closely, but they seemed to intentionally keep their voices low. “I get it.”

Judy was trying to make it make sense, it clearly wasn’t related to the meeting, but their boss was walking back toward them, hoisting her bag up her shoulder as she walked. “Okay, ladies, let’s get back. You can give me your reviews on the way back and then I need to arrange a meeting or two, so we may have to bump some of my schedule.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for that. I know you work hard to keep my schedule organized and me changing things twice in a single day isn’t fair to the effort you’ve put in.”

Judy had been an intern long enough to understand where her boss’s apologetic attitude toward schedule changes came from, Ms. Tolliver was in charge of the Secretary’s schedule which often had a disruption of some kind, forcing her to coordinate with the Secretary’s assistant to fix everything. Judy was sure there was some irony or something that the woman who helped maintain someone else’s schedule had to also have people to maintain her own.

The review lasted until they were stepping back onto Seven. Once they got to their desks, Nadine kept walking to meet with the Secretary about the meeting, stopping at Blake’s desk only momentarily to speak to him. Once they were settled in, Judy turned to Alice. “Do you ever feel like there are other things going on around here that you don’t know about?”

The other woman laughed. “Daily. But that’s part of the different clearance levels, there’s always someone who knows more than you do.”

Judy sighed. “I know. Hey, where’s Kelly?”

“Oh, she was going to be helping Danny with something. Matt’s out today so they were going to work in his office. Could you go let her know we’re back so we can start working on moving the schedule around?”

“Um, sure.” Judy stored her things away and then made her way through the halls to the speechwriter’s office, knocking before stepping in. “Hey, we’re back.” She addressed Kelly.

“We’re almost done here.” Kelly responded. “How’d it go?”

“Alice seemed to think it was mostly boring. It got a bit heated, but I guess that’s normal.”

“It is.”

“Well, we do have to shift a few things off her afternoon, so as soon as you’re done, we could use some help with the calls.”

“Sure.”

Judy pushed off the glass frame and turned back toward the main office, passing her boss’s office just as the blinds flicked shut. She barely glimpsed who was inside as they did. Frowning, she headed back to her desk to get started on the calls as she wondered just what warranted her boss having that person in for a meeting urgent enough to clear her schedule for hours.


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you excited?” Kelly beamed as she leaned between their desks. “This is going to be my first trip as well.”

The trip her coworker was talking about was a major eight day multi-country visit, the kind of trip the Secretary only made a couple times a year and as such, many of the auxiliary staff were being taken along as well. Judy knew that Danny was going as well as the junior speechwriter that she could never remember the name of, around the office he was simply known as Matt’s protégé. Two of Daisy’s press assistants were going as well and Judy’ heard the Jay’d even requested three additional aides that frequently helped him with policy. Their boss had brought her and Kelly in weeks ago and had lectured repeatedly about the behavior on such a trip and had assured that while she didn’t think they would be a problem, she’d been taken by surprise in the past by who found themselves on the outs and now she simply didn’t take chances.

“I can’t believe we’re going.” Judy admitted. Because of the nature of the trip, the extra security, plus the gaggle, they were taking what she’d heard was the biggest plane available. “Tera and Jim said we’ll have evenings off to socialize at most stops.”

“Yeah, well, it’s probably best of we heed Ms. Tolliver’s warning, no sense in getting fired while overseas.” She shrugged. “But we could go out for drinks tonight and celebrate the trip?”

“I’m up for it.” Judy agreed. “Usual place?” It seemed a lot of the seventh-floor staffers preferred a single hole in the wall bar halfway between the Truman and Georgetown.

“We’ll head over straight after work.”

==

“I was coming back from the breakroom and Matt was in the hall, he looked like a little kid being dragged to the principal’s office.” Kelly was laughing through her story. “Ms. Tolliver was lecturing him about fraternization on the trip and his head was tossed back and he was groaning about it. I asked Tera and she said that he gets the same lecture every trip and every single time he tries to do something and gets reprimanded for it.”

“And he hasn’t been fired?” Judy was shocked. Their boss wasn’t known for having tons of patience for failing to have the proper amounts of professionalism.

“Word is that even though the seniors are technically under Ms. Tolliver as well, the Secretary is pretty attached to them and kind of staked her claim that only she can fire them. I know I’ve heard that Mike B character threaten them, but they clearly don’t take him seriously.”

“I still don’t get his purpose. He sweeps in and upsets them all and then sweeps out again, that dog with him all the time.”

“He’s an advisor of some sort? He’s an attorney too, though I’m not sure why the Secretary would need another attorney to give her advice.”

“Another one?” Judy tried to think, she knew the executive branch officials had legal representation as part of their jobs.

“Oh, Ms. Tolliver is an attorney too. Technically. She went to law school and maintains her bar membership.” Kelly said as if it were common knowledge, working on the appetizers between them. “I found out about three weeks in to working for her because I was sitting in on a call taking notes and it came up. Actually, she was on with that Mike B, she told him her bar membership was as valid as his and essentially to stuff it.” She laughed. “She really doesn’t like him.”

“Really? I thought what I saw last week was more ‘scorned lover’. Maybe I was wrong.”

Kelly thought about that a minute. “Huh. Maybe. That would be a hell of a relationship then, because from what I’ve seen, he presses her buttons for fun.” She swallowed her next bite as something caught her eye. “Crap. I think the seniors are here tonight, so much for avoiding work.”

Judy looked around the bar but only saw the assistant on a barstool, leaning over and looking as if he’d been there for some time. She shrugged. “Only Blake, not like he’s really ever a boss or a kind of boss. Technically isn’t he just another aide like the rest of the outer office?”

“Except he answers only to the Secretary herself.” Kelly frowned. “He’s like the seventh-floor tattletale. If anyone’s got the clear path to run to teacher about you, it’s him. And he’s the one person on the floor, aside from the Secretary herself, that Ms. Tolliver doesn’t have the authority to fire.”

Judy thought about that. Kelly had a point; the assistant controlled all access to the corner office and yet had carte blanche access it seemed whenever he wanted. Plus, he seemed to travel with her constantly, even when the other seniors didn’t. “Huh.” He didn’t look like the guy who normally rushed around the floor all day right now though. He looked bothered by something. “Well, I’ve never actually talked to him except when we were introduced ages ago, so I have no idea what he’s like.”

Kelly seemed to think about it a minute. “He’s usually pretty boring as far as office gossip goes. There was something maybe a month before you started. It was before Kyle, the guy who was before you. There was this trip to… somewhere.” She waved her hand as if it weren’t important. “I only remember because he called in sick, I guess, for three days after the trip, there was a temp down at the desk. That was the end of a week, the Secretary was off too. Really all the seniors were. I got pulled in on the Saturday morning for an hour since Ms. Tolliver had been gone, she just had a few questions. He turned up, I think it was him anyway, all I heard was a voice. She was angry or something and was sending me home without actually doing what I’d been called in for and while I was getting on the elevator, there was shouting and it sounded, well, I’ve never heard someone shout like that on seven and that’s even with Mr. Jackson storming the place. It was too far away for me to make anything out, but like I said, I think it was him.”

“Really?” Judy glanced back at the man sagging into the wood of the bar. “Hard to believe that guy would scream at anyone.”

“Still waters run deep I guess.” Kelly finished her drink. “Well, we have an early day tomorrow.” She dropped money on the table for her half of the bill, waiting for Judy to do the same.

Judy followed along, walking with her friend to the cars and making to leave as Kelly did. Once she was out of sight though, Judy backtracked to the bar and stepped back in, wondering if following the impulse to check on the near stranger who worked on her floor. Just inside the door, she hesitated, suddenly unsure. She watched as a man she didn’t know took the empty stool next to Blake and began to speak to him. Deciding it wasn’t her place, she turned and left again.


	6. Chapter 6

The plane had been clearly divided based on status for the entire trip with the gaggle in the back in what they called the ‘cheap seats’, the Secretary’s full security detail spread at the back and the front, and all of the aides together in the conference area. The inner sanctum of senior staffers stayed in the executive area and the Secretary’s office. In the first days of the trip, Judy realized that none of the groups mixed while on the plane unless the had explicit permission. Daisy or one of her assistants made regular trips to the gaggle and the Secretary seemed to go every afternoon back there, cutting through their area to get there and back.

It was during one of those trips that Judy found herself being acknowledged by her boss’s boss for the first time. The Secretary had been heading toward the back and had met her eyes, giving her a gentle smile that Judy had never seen the busy woman wear in the office. “You’re one of Nadine’s, right?” She asked. When Judy had nodded, the Secretary had continued. “Would you please go up and give her a hand with a few things?”

“Uh, sure.” Judy nodded, collecting her folder and heading to the front. The front section of the plane seemed in stark contrast to the area she’d been sitting in. Despite being busy, the area the aides took up was overall jovial and busy, a hum that seemed to linger as conversations around them shifted between work and non. She knew that earlier in the trip she’d heard plenty of laughter from the front, had made out her own boss’s voice a time or two, but now the front was silent. The other senior staffers were all looking away, their eyes buried into paperwork or out the windows and her boss looked irritated. “Ma’am?” She saw as her boss jumped, clearly not expecting her to appear. “I’m sorry. I was told you needed me?”

Nadine looked confused a minute, trying to work out why her intern was suddenly beside her. Judy saw as a thought crossed the woman’s mind before she stood from her seat. She muttered something Judy didn’t catch before vanishing without any instruction for her toward the back of the plane.

“Told you it’d come out.” Judy heard Daisy whisper. Turning, she saw the woman had spoken those words to Jay. “As far as I know, the rest of the press knows nothing, but she’s about to blow it now.”

“It wasn’t our place to get involved.” He shook his head. “Judy, you can go back. We’re sorry. There wasn’t a task for you, the Secretary tried to use you as a diversion, not that it worked. I apologize.”

Judy was confused. Diversion for what? It wasn’t like anyone could go anywhere trapped on the plane together. Heading back to her seat, she decided to stop in the restroom that stood between her section and the gaggle at the back. The roar of the engines almost entirely blocked out all sound, but Judy recognized Ms. Tolliver’s voice, it sounded like she was talking to someone directly outside the thin door.

“You can’t go back there asking questions, Ma’am.” Her boss sounded frustrated. “No matter how much any of us want to get involved, we can’t. Not until he reports it himself.”

“Everyone on this plane is my responsibility, Nadine.” Judy thought the Secretary sounded pained. “You knew?”

She barely made out her boss sighing. “Yes. I did my own investigating when I suspected a problem and eventually, I figured out who all the players were. I’ve done all I can, but until he speaks up there’s nothing you or I can do.”

“He knew we were making this next stop; it’s been on the official agenda for weeks. Why the hell would he agree to come?” Judy couldn’t tell if there was more said as the Secretary’s voice faded out, but then a minute later it was able to be heard again. “And Nadine?” Her voice now sounded more resigned than anything. “No more secrets about something like this, okay? Even if it’s just a rumor, you ever think someone travelling with our contingent at any level is assaulted or raped or… looked at wrong, I need to know.”

“Fine. But you can not go back there and start asking questions. If he’s chosen not to say anything, we can’t violate that, especially in front of an entire cabin of people familiar with the way the laws work. You have to let it go.” Ms. Tolliver’s tone made Judy believe the Secretary would give in and a moment later she did. Once it sounded like the coast was clear, she let herself out of the restroom with a heavy breath and a glance back toward the gaggle all working diligently on laptops and tablets. Her curiosity had been piqued, something had happened to one of them and now she wondered who it was and exactly what seemed to have the senior staff so at odds over it.


	7. Chapter 7

Judy wasn’t surprised when Kelly knocked on her room door that night. “Hey.”

“What’s been eating at you?” Kelly asked as soon as the door closed.

“Do the same reporters travel with the State Department all the time?”

“Uh, most of them, yeah. A few papers change them up, but a lot have worked hard to get to this level, so they are full time on diplomatic coverage.”

“I overheard something earlier on the plane.” Judy frowned. “Ms. Tolliver and the Secretary talking and… I know they didn’t know I was there, and technically it was confidential, but they didn’t mention any names.”

“Okay, so out with it.”

“I think something bad happened to one of the reporters. The Secretary was angry with Ms. Tolliver for keeping it secret. She said from now on she wanted told if anyone traveling with State was assaulted or anything.”

Kelly sank onto the end of the bed. “Woah.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, for as much as the Secretary and everyone travels, I guess the odds are higher that something bad will happen on a trip? I mean, higher than staying in your house forever anyway. They didn’t say who?”

She shook her head. “Just ‘he’ and ‘him’. I think all the seniors know.”

“Well, a reporter would’ve probably confided in Daisy.” Kelly shrugged. “It’s too bad though. Sucks when people get hurt like that.” She sighed heavily. “Well, we’re free for the evening. Jim knocked on my door and said there’s a piano bar or karaoke bar or something down the road, walking distance. He said according to Danny, the seniors aren’t going to mind if the aides come out as well tonight. Probably a ploy so Ms. Tolliver can make sure we all behave, but he said it’s common courtesy that the gaggle go elsewhere so we get some peace from them.”

“Everyone’s going?”

“Sounds like it. Jim’s done a few of these trips, he says it’s rare the seniors say they won’t mind and it’s always worth it to go. According to him, they can sing and it’s a real treat.”

The bar turned out to be a hole in the wall place that barely sat more than the State Department staff. Judy looked around to see who all had come out and it looked like Jim had been right, short of the Secretary herself and her assistant, it looked like everyone was there. There were even a few DS agents sitting at the table by the door, though not drinking. It looked more like they were just keeping watch during their off time. There was a makeshift stage at the end of the room with two spotlights washing out the faded red curtain hanging as a backdrop and music played a bit too loud as everyone placed their orders.

At first, it was the aides and assistants taking charge of the karaoke machine, which amused Judy. Some were better than others, all were giving it their best, though some were clearly being shoved to the stage by their closest coworkers. They all enjoyed the evening, Judy found herself in deep conversation with Matt’s protégé, Dillon it turned out his name was, for much of the time before he nudged her after about an hour and a half.

“Look.” He gestured to the stage with his beer glass. “Pre-show is over. Now the real show starts.”

Turning to look, Judy spotted Daisy, Matt, and Jay gathered at the machine selecting songs. “So, they really do sing?”

Dillon grinned. “Do they ever. They’ll do a few rounds and then your boss will get up there and knock them outta the park.”

“Ms. Tolliver? Really?”

He nodded. “Blew me away the first time. She’s like a different person on stage.” He leaned closer. “Looks like we’ll be missing the best treat tonight though.”

“Who’s that?”

“Blake.”

“Wait. The assistant?” She was shocked.

“I’ve had the pleasure a couple times.” He grinned. “He used to sing around the office in the mornings when he’d come in early too, hasn’t don’t that in ages though. He came out for election night and sat at the piano getting hammered and singing, till they tossed him out from what I heard, but I was impressed.”

“Woah. Never would’ve guessed that.” The sound of singing drew her attention away as Daisy began. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Wish I had that kind of talent.”

Judy listened as the seniors took turns between the junior staffers for a while. Another hour passed and then Ms. Tolliver was walking toward the stage. As the song began, Judy couldn’t help her jaw dropping in surprise.

As the song wrapped up, Dillon leaned closer again. “So, where do you land on the office gossip scale?”

“Sorry?”

“Like, do you refuse to hear anything, do you listen to everything, or are you somewhere in the middle like, you only like reliable sources?”

“Um. I’m not sure. I’ve heard a bit, but I don’t really know anyone very well to know what to believe. I guess I’m in the middle somewhere.”

Dillon nodded. “Good place to be. I only trust what Matt gives and even then, I only trust about half of it. Guy’s a writing genius, but sometimes he talks without the facts. I heard something before we all came out though and Saint Jay was talking with him, so I think there’s a hair of truth to it, but I was wondering if you could give me something first.”

Judy stared at him a moment. “Like what? I don’t know anything.”

“I know. But my job here is mostly being stuck at the hotels being Matt’s lacky and sidekick, you’re Tolliver’s girl you get to go places.”

“I guess.”

“There’s a luncheon tomorrow. It’s a rep from the host country, MSec, and then a rep from India plus assorted staffers. I just need you to tell me after if Blake turns up or not. If you can do that, I would be willing to share what I’ve heard.”

“But why? What’s it matter if he shows? Isn’t he supposed to?”

“Yeah.” Dillon worked on his drink some more. “I don’t think he will though and if not, that’s a massive deal. In the time I’ve been working under Matt, I can count the number of times he’s missed something of that caliber on one hand and almost always there’s been a real reason for him to miss.”

“I guess I can do that. Sounds easy enough. Why the ask though? You have to give me something.”

“Saint Jay looked grim and said Blake had a fight with the Sec and told Matt it could be a problem. Then he doesn’t turn up tonight for this?” He waved around the bar. “I have money on him either quitting or getting fired.”

That stunned her. “Really?”

He nodded before looking up. “Here comes your boss.”

Judy turned in time to see Ms. Tolliver walking her way and smiled. “Ma’am.”

“Good evening, Judy. I’m glad to see you came out to have a little fun.” Judy couldn’t help but notice the way her boss looked so much more relaxed tonight.

“It’s been nice. Your song was lovely.”

She could’ve sworn her boss blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing. A little fun. I do a few because it makes the others happy.” With that, she vanished toward the door, stopping at the table the detail were at.

Judy turned back to Dillon. “I think you’re wrong, by the way. If something were going down, she’d be more upset about it.” She gestured after her boss. “And she’s not acted like something’s been bothering her. If there was a fight, as you claim, she’d be all over dealing with that.”

Dillon shrugged noncommittally. “Poker face perhaps. You know she plays in the Hill league, right? I heard she wipes the floor most of the time.”

Judy’s brows went up. “Man, tonight’s a night for learning.”

He laughed. “Stick with me kid, I’ll teach you everything you ever wanted to know.”

She laughed as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Judy wasn’t entirely surprised the following day to discover Dillon’s guess was right, Blake didn’t turn up for the luncheon. In fact, she hadn’t seen him at anything all day and she’d been shadowing Ms. Tolliver since they’d left that morning. More than once, the Secretary had turned to make a request of her assistant only to perhaps remember his absence as her face shifted into a troubled frown. Midday, Judy heard herself asking her boss if the Secretary needed a stand-in assistant for the remainder of the day, expecting the impulsive query to be shot down. Instead her boss had thought it a wonderful idea and had approached the Secretary to suggest it.

After the luncheon, Judy found herself unexpectedly alone in an SUV with the Secretary herself as they travelled to another location for a quick meeting. When she’d offered, she had assumed Ms. Tolliver would be joining them everywhere anyway, so little would change. She never expected to be on her own with the formidable Secretary of State.

A heavy sigh and then a chuckle made Judy look across the cabin. “Relax, I swear I don’t bite.” The Secretary offered an amused grin. “Not anymore anyway. Blake pretty well trained that out of me.” Her smile fell at that. “Thank you for offering to help, though.”

“It’s, it’s no problem, Ma’am.” The next question slipped out impulsively and she regretted it as soon as she heard the words hitting the air. “Is everything alright with him?”

The Secretary’s blue eyes were on her instantly, studying her as she debated whether to answer. “I don’t know.”

The honesty in her answer hit Judy like a ton of bricks. “Oh.”

“I know there have been rumors…”

“No, it’s, no, I haven’t heard anything.”

“It’s, well, it’s not fine, but it’s understandable. People are naturally curious, and Blake’s not been himself for a while now. I think I’m more hurt than anything that I didn’t know something was going on and I reacted poorly to that hurt.” Silence filled the cabin for several minutes. “Sorry.” She seemed to shake herself. “Let’s go over what I’ll need from you for this stop really quick.”

“Sure.”

==

It was late and Judy had been dodging Dillon all evening. She was curious about what he knew, but at the same time there was something about her afternoon filling in beside the Secretary that made her feel more protective of the secrets the inner circle had. Wandering into the hotel bar, she hesitated when she realized almost the only person still sitting at the bar, dressed down in jeans and a sweater, was the assistant himself. Taking the risk, she crossed the floor and took the stool right next to him, reminding herself not to react when he glanced her way and then looked again.

“I know you.” His voice was soft, resigned. “You’re one of Nadine’s.”

“Yes.”

“Let me guess, looking for hot gossip for the office pool?”

“No.” She didn’t miss his suspicious glance. “I swear to you.”

“Hm.”

“I’ve heard stuff though, so I get it why you wouldn’t want to trust me.” She acknowledged. “And I know all of you respect Ms. Tolliver about not talking to us. So maybe… I could sit here in silence and at least you’re not alone?”

He sipped from his glass. “Okay.” He seemed inclined to do only that as he finished off his drink and then rested his head on his arms on the bar. A half hour passed before he made a move to stand and she caught sight of the redness in his eyes, as if tears had threatened but not fallen. He thanked her and turned to leave.

“Blake.” She heard herself say, stopping him. She was surprised again when he actually turned back, studying her. “If- If you just need someone to shut up and listen without trying to fix things, sometimes you have to tell them that’s what you want.” She had no idea where the words or the confidence to say them had come from. “Sorry.” She ducked her face away.

She could still see him in her periphery, he didn’t make a move right away, but eventually turned and left. Once she was alone, she wandered upstairs herself to find Dillon and see what he thought he knew. The entire staff was assigned one long corridor of the hotel with the gaggle the floor below. Watching the room numbers, she knocked on one almost to the end, it seemed Dillon’s room was almost next door to Matt’s.

“Hey.” Dillon greeted, letting her in. “Well?”

“Something’s definitely up.”

==

Kelly was in Judy’s room again the following morning while she finished getting ready. “So, you and Dillon?”

“It wasn’t like that. He had some questions and we were sharing notes on a suspicion he had.”

She caught Kelly rolling her eyes. “He always has those.”

“Do any of them pan out?” She seriously wanted to know.

“Um, some do.” A knock at the door cut her off and Kelly went to open it, greeting their boss. “Ma’am.”

“I- I was looking for Judy.” She sounded surprised to find the other intern in this room.

Judy stepped out of the bathroom. “I’m here.”

A look of pride crossed her boss’s face. “The Secretary was very pleased with your level of professionalism and assistance yesterday. She has asked if I would be willing to let you help her again today, it would be just until we leave this afternoon.”

“I- yeah. Sure. Whatever you need me to do.” Judy readily agreed, sharing a glance with Kelly.

“You won’t be on your own today like you were yesterday, but as you’ll be in a different capacity, you won’t be with the other aides, you’ll be with the senior staff and I. When you’re ready, come down to the suite at the end, you’ll need to go over some things before the meeting starts.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Once her boss left, Judy rushed to finish getting ready, heading to the suite, surprised when one of the agents opened the door for her. Inside, the Secretary was seated at a round table that was covered with paperwork, her blazer was tossed over a chair and her shoes were under it. Glasses were perched on her nose as she held a donut to the side so crumbs wouldn’t fall on what she was reading. She looked casual and relaxed. Jay was on a sofa near the table, his feet up as he spoke about whatever it was he was reading while Matt was slumped on a window seat, staring outside. Daisy was pacing with a tablet in her hand, occasionally spouting off a fact about something or other and Judy saw her boss, looking the most calm and professional, seated in a chair across from the Secretary, her eyes constantly observing all of them.

While she stared, Blake appeared from another doorway with bags in his hands, adding various things as he moved about the room as he spoke as well. There was a comment about the weather and that he was bringing her other coat along in case she needed it, that he’d tucked her flats in already to wear between meetings and please would she stop pretending those shoes didn’t do a number to her feet. It seemed no one was paying any attention to him at all, each also having their own conversation or in their own world. He made a full pass around the room twice before he collected the coffee mug from the table and the donut from the Secretary’s hand, exchanging it for a napkin which the woman dutifully used to clean up before handing it back again. Before Judy could register he’d done it, there appeared a small mirror and a small make up bag and he was passing his boss a tube of lipstick.

Daisy was talking again, this time about a photo that was circulating related to the Russian elections. The comment drew an irritated huff from Ms. Tolliver, but nothing from anyone else, but Daisy didn’t seem to either notice or mind.

As soon as Blake was putting the make up away, he began sorting and stacking the files off the table as his boss still worked, talking again, this time about phone calls and what time the flight would be leaving.

The Secretary then began to speak and everyone else instantly stopped. Judy realized than that on top of having been reading the entire time, the Secretary had been listening to each one of her staff, even as they talked over one another. She was even more blown away when Ms. Tolliver spoke, addressing various concerns and then stating, to Blake alone it seemed, that he would be sitting out the morning’s meetings. He’d started to balk, but the Secretary spoke again, simply telling him it wasn’t up for discussion. When she told him she had a temporary assistant for the day, Blake’s eyes suddenly cut to Judy, freezing a moment before Judy thought he looked a bit heartbroken as he turned away and left.

“It’s for the best, Ma’am.” Judy heard her boss say. “This whole thing is much too delicate to risk anything else taking your attention.”

The Secretary snorted. “And him not being there will be less distracting?”

Ms. Tolliver sighed. “Less than if he totally loses it again like he did before.”

==

After lunch, Judy found herself in the back of an SUV beside Jay, her boss was in the middle row beside the Secretary. They were headed back to the hotel to collect their things so they could get to the airport. There wasn’t any big meeting to have or any notes to take and the conversation around her lapsed into general chitchat. The Secretary asked about the night out, sounding genuinely curious about whether the staffers had a good time. Judy was curious about these small moments she’d been privy to, how it seemed they all turned off some of the intensity and settled in as almost friends. Or maybe they were friends outside of their jobs, she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t imagine her boss being friends with the others, but she didn’t know her boss sang or payed poker either.

Jay and Nadine had been carrying on a light conversation about his daughter when the Secretary cut in. “Daisy’s mad at me, isn’t she?” The other two went silent, making her look up at them. “You can tell me.”

“Ma’am.” Nadine started. “I think she’s mad at the situation.” There was a pained expression on her face.

“Aren’t we all.” Jay added.

“Yesterday…” The Secretary trailed off, Judy wondered where she was going with that, but then she started again. “Yesterday I tried to tell him I understood what he’d been feeling.”

“I take it he didn’t take that well.” Jay stated.

“No. He told me it was different for a woman. I just… If this why he hit Salazar?” She was looking at Nadine now.

Judy watched her boss simply nod. “He confided in me about it. I hauled him in that evening and made him talk.”

The vehicle lapsed back into silence the rest of the way back. When Dillon stopped by as they were heading downstairs, Judy told him she had nothing noteworthy to share. She’d been granted a moment to witness that inner circle being perhaps vulnerable and relaxed, she wasn’t about to violate that trust.


	9. Chapter 9

They were back in DC; Judy was busy typing up a series of memos for Ms. Tolliver when the Secretary and several of the seniors bustled past as they always did. She barely even registered them now, simply waited for them to pass before crossing the aisle to get the latest report off the assistant who’d been helping Jay. The trip overseas had been a week ago and everything seemed to be business as usual on the floor.

“You really have nothing?” Dillon’s voice behind her startled her.

She whirled around. “I told you, it was a fluke chance that I was even with them and they were too guarded to say anything with me around. And look around, nothing out of the ordinary.” She waved the way the seniors had just vanished. “Your guess was wrong.” She bustled past him to get to the printer at the end.

“Come on.” He chased after her. “I gave you something, you were supposed to give me something in return.”

“What you had was a crappy rumor, obviously. Why would I reward you spreading lies and suspicions? You were wrong, get over it.” She couldn’t help remembering that even though Dillon was wrong in some things, he wasn’t wrong about everything. Not entirely anyway.

“But you had access.”

“Leave it, and me, alone.”

A heavy crash and a sharp ‘Dammit!’ cut her off from saying anything else. Turning quickly, she realized the crash had been Blake’s desk chair toppling backward. There was coffee running off his desk, splashes of it on his suit, and one hand was flaming red from the heat. Abandoning her paperwork in the printer, Judy rushed over, eyeing the way his hand was only getting redder.

“You need to get this under water.” His sleeve was soaked too. “Come on.” She led the way to the break room, directing him to shed his jacket and roll up his saturated sleeve, showing his also red arm before she shoved it under running water. “What happened?”

“It was an accident.”

“What the hell happened?!” Nadine’s voice was high and sharp from the doorway where she hesitated before rushing to have a look at Blake’s hand and arm.

Judy relinquished what she was doing to her boss, backing away while watching as the other woman blotted at Blake’s skin while he stuttered out an explanation about how he came to be in that condition.

“I’m okay, Nadine.” She heard him insist only for him to hiss when Nadine touched his hand with the paper towel. “It just hurts a bit.”

“I don’t think it’s a real burn that needs a doctor, but you’re in pain. I’m sending you home.” Her boss shook her head. “I’ll have someone drive you.”

“I can get myself home.”

She watched Ms. Tolliver put her hand in his. “Squeeze my hand.” He attempted and she frowned. “You have no business driving with only one hand, I’ll get Jay to run you home.”

“Jay’s out with Senator Boulding’s Chief of Staff.”

“Right.” She sighed. “And Matt took the metro.”

“He is not driving my car.”

Judy caught the resigned looked on her boss’s face. “Fine. Can’t say I blame you on that one. I can’t get away right now, I was on my way to a meeting myself.”

“I- I’ll do it.” Judy offered impulsively making both standing at the sink turn and stare at her as if they’d forgotten she was there. “I could.” She shrugged nervously, watching her boss turn back to face Blake, debating.

He shot her a look as if to say he’d been so close to getting Nadine to surrender to the idea.

“It’s the only option I guess.”

“No.” Blake tried one last time. “An option is to let me get back to my desk.”

“You’re right-handed, Blake, Exactly how will you work?”

“Um.”

“It’s settled.” She turned to Judy. “Please finish up what you were working on and then take him home.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And don’t let him give you reasons to not do it.”

“Of course, Ma’am.”

==

Judy was nervously pulling out of the garage when he spoke. “I heard Matt’s assistant bothering you.”

“Oh. He was fine, he’s been a pest lately, but he’s harmless.” She brushed off.

“He was wanting you to gossip about someone and you refused. You lied to him.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. She had lied to Dillon because in the time since she’d agreed to share gossip with him, she’d begun to realize that she couldn’t violate that trust that had been bestowed upon her.

“I know I’ve been the talk of the gossip mill for a while now, and Nadine was right, my outbursts haven’t helped it at all.” She didn’t say anything to that and a few miles later, after he gave her the next turn, he spoke again. “Senator Salazar made an overture to a member of the White House staff and I felt he was about to follow through despite being warned off. The, uh, the Diplomatic Security guys taught me some defensive stuff after an incident that happened a while back.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I have no idea.” She heard him admit. “Tired I guess, and my hand and arm are killing me.” He flexed his hand, wincing at the way the skin felt. “Pull over anywhere on this block, I’m about halfway up.”

She found a spot and stopped. “Hope your hand feels better.”

“Thanks.” He started to climb out.

“And I’m sorry. For Dillon and everyone else. It must suck to have everyone watching you all the time because they’re just being nosy.”

She watched him hesitate a minute before looking at her. “You know, in all the years I’ve worked with Nadine, I’ve never known her to allow her interns to step into other roles. Maybe it’s because she remembers what it was like to be a junior staffer, the way everyone with more clout thinks you belong to them. Or maybe it’s because she wants to keep them loyal to only her, but she’s kind of abandoned that with you.” Judy wasn’t sure where he was going with his thoughts, so she waited. “I’m going to need time off here and there in the future. If Nadine signs off on it and the Secretary is agreeable, how would you feel learning the ropes of what I do and stepping in for me? It could give you a leg up in your next position.”

“I- I guess that sounds okay.”

“I’ll text Nadine about it.” He nodded, though to her it looked like it was more to himself, and then shut the door.


	10. Chapter 10

Judy sat beside Alice and Kelly in Ms. Tolliver’s office as they reviewed the schedule for upcoming days. Once they got to the end of the page, their boss kept going. “And tomorrow, Alice and Kelly you will be handling everything on your own. Judy is going to be shadowing Blake all day unless something comes up.” Both other women stared in surprise as she continued. “I know it will be odd, but the Secretary made the decision.”

When they walked back to their desks, Alice and Kelly started peppering her with questions. “How did you get a shot at that?” Alice started. “Ms. Tolliver never lets interns go off and do anything else and now you’ve been awfully cozy lately with some of them.”

“I- I was asked if I would be interested.” Judy wasn’t sure how much to give. “I guess I made a better impression than I thought on the trip?”

“Hm.” Alice turned back to her desk. “I would’ve thought the person with the most experience would’ve gotten the shot.”

“They’ve all taken a shine to you.” Kelly added. “Even Dillon has been talking about how you got the inside access and refused to share.”

She was over Dillon, but he was a problem that wasn’t going to just go away. She suspected that the incident the week before had been because of Dillon’s comments, but knew she’d never get confirmation on it. “There was nothing to share. Is nothing to share. I’m an outsider and they don’t talk around me.” She stood her ground. “Now. I have a lot to finish if I’m going to essentially not be here tomorrow.”

==

Judy tried the next day to keep in step with the Secretary’s personal assistant, but within an hour of getting to the Truman building long before her usual time she had already begun to realize that what he did was impossible to sum up in the two little words of his title.

She met him in the breakroom where he’d been filling a travel thermos with fresh coffee, a bakery bag waiting next to a stack of folders and his coat. He’d barely glanced at her before passing the bag and files over and leading the way to the elevator she’d just stepped off of, pulling his coat on as he placed a call to the waiting SUV downstairs.

In the vehicle, he was on the phone again, first to confirm a meeting for hours later and then one that piqued Judy’s attention a bit more. This conversation was relaxed, teasing even and, after a few minutes, she realized involved more than just two people. He asked someone why they allowed ‘her’ to read the reports in bed, which was followed by a laugh and then an observation clearly to the ‘her’ in question. “Yes, we’re aware you’re standing right there, but you complain when we talk behind your back.” Another laugh and then it seemed something caught his notice through the line. “Ali, wait! I don’t have the list of volunteer hours opportunities for next semester, I need them ASAP… Thank you!” Judy could only watch his face, the way he grinned as he listened intently. Whoever else was on the other ends talked for several minutes before Blake seemed to cut in with a five-minute warning and then the reassurance that he had breakfast in the car.

When he hung up and turned to Judy, she was waiting for something to explain the phone call. “I was letting the Secretary know we’re on our way. And confirming when lunch is scheduled today with Doctor McCord. And trying to track down paperwork for Alison’s school, they require the parents to commit to volunteer hours each semester and I have to get that in the schedule.”

“Oh. Alison is her daughter?”

“One of them. Stephanie, Stevie, works at the White House, you’ll possibly meet her this morning, I need to confirm something with Adele, and then Jason is the youngest.” He trailed off, focused on paperwork, and Judy didn’t want to interrupt.

When the SUV stopped in Georgetown, Judy watched through the window as the agents got out and greeted the ones standing on the sidewalk, talking a bit before others left. They lingered, talking, until the front door opened, and the Secretary stepped out. Judy was already in the last row, so she stayed put as the Secretary climbed in and turned instantly to Blake.

“Coffee, Ma’am.” He held out the mug. “And blueberry scones so long as you promise not to get crumbs everywhere before the NSC meeting.”

“I promise.” She waited eagerly for him to pass a scone to her.

“You have the CIA briefing up first and then the NSC meeting, following I’m sure by a private pull aside with POTUS and Russell Jackson about the thing we discussed earlier this week. I know we need his help with the senate votes on the refugee funding so Nadine reminding me again this morning to stress to you not to antagonize him today. Please. She even said please with the tone that sounds like she’s about to send you to the principal’s office.”

“Aren’t I the principal?” The Secretary scoffed.

Judy saw Blake’s brows raise. “I’m fairly sure if you wind him up today, you will discover that she is in fact the principal. Please do not test her today.”

There was a huff and a fake smile. “Fine. I will play nice with Russell. I suppose if he has another heart attack, I won’t get my backing with the senate.” She reached for the bag for more food, but Blake pulled it away.

“You do know Henry makes breakfast every single morning, right? I mean, I know it and I’m not married to him.”

“Please?” Judy recognized the childish tone from the morning in Ms. Tolliver’s office when the Secretary had been looking for Blake and donuts.

“One more and then the others have to wait until we leave the White House.”

“Depending on how the CIA thing goes, I make need to track down SecDef for a little chat.”

“Already on the books, Ma’am. His assistant assures me there is a window of ten minutes that perfectly aligns with the window of time we’ll be able to get there and still be back for the SVTC call.”

“Perfectly aligned, huh?”

“She knows when I come asking that it’s her job to see to it that it works.”

The Secretary barked a laugh, finally turning in her seat to see Judy. “How’s your morning been so far?”

“Busy, Ma’am. I wasn’t aware your assistant managed quite so much.”

A pleased smile blossomed as she looked fondly at Blake. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“Wandering aimlessly, overtired and underfed I expect.” Blake cheeked in reply. “I do what I can.”

The mood seemed to shift very slightly as Judy watched her reach across and rub his arm affectionately. “You do more than that.”

==

By the time they were placing a lunch order, Judy had decided that not only was the man she was shadowing physically busy at all times, even when he was waiting in the hall outside the Oval Office, he was moving, working on paperwork and handling emails, he was sharp and quite brilliant as well.

At the White House, the only thing that had broken his intense concentration had been the appearance of Stevie, who he clearly knew well. He’d abandoned his paperwork and the Secretary’s bags to step aside and have a quiet conversation with her. Once they’d left there, it had then been a quick trip to the Pentagon during which he’d only handed over half a scone on the way and then had escorted her into the meeting with SecDef, leaving Judy on her own with he assistant.

The meal was delivered, and Blake passed her what she’d ordered before setting his own aside. Moments later, a man Judy vaguely recognized from the night in the bar appeared, greeting Blake eagerly as he took the bag of food and headed for the corner office. Taking her food, Judy headed for her own desk to eat, turning to Alice as she sat. “How are things going?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “What do you care? You get to be one of them now. You got your wish.”

“I- What? One of who?”

“Top rung.” She waved to the end of the room. “You went past the end desk, you’ve been gallivanting all over DC.” Her tone was snide. “Sit around drinking the good coffee and rubbing elbows with top brass. It’s what you wanted, right? A career that meant something. Now you’re all buddy-buddy with the assistant. Shouldn’t it be beneath you to ask how I’m doing?”

“It’s one day. And I’ll be right back here doing this work tomorrow.” She pointed out, incredulous.

“Right. For how long?”

Judy sat in stunned silence until she heard her name being called. “Yeah?” She turned to see Blake giving her a concerned look. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“We’re needed in the conference room, there’s been some information come in that has to be jumped on.”

“Okay.” She stood, looking back at Alice who only shot her a dirty look.

==

Judy was perched on the edge of the couch in the inner office, eyes wide as she watched what was happening in front of her. It had just passed eight in the evening, she and Blake had been there fourteen hours already and while he looked as fresh and awake as he had that morning, she was starting to waver. The problem, however, wasn’t the late hour; or maybe it was in a round-about way. No, the problem appeared to be a battle of wills between Blake and the Secretary who had been going nonstop since her husband had left after lunch nearly eight hours ago. She had asked Blake to place a call on the SVTC system and he’d said no. A moment of silence had hung in the office before she’d asked again, this time it was less a ‘no’ and more a requirement that she had to have dinner first before he would place any calls for her.

It was from that point that the Secretary had frowned, her next command that he had to do as she asked far sharper than anything she’d heard so far from the woman in charge, but Blake hadn’t even flinched, he’d only stood his ground that if she wished to continue working for the evening, she had to eat or he would call her motorcade and have her detail physically escort her out of the building. Judy watched her balk at that but say nothing as she simply stared at her own assistant a second. She suspected this wasn’t the first time Blake had been made to set a line in the sand on a matter like this because it was the Secretary who eventually relented, asking him to bring dinner in so she could continue working.


	11. Chapter 11

Taking a seat on her own in Ms. Tolliver’s office, Judy nervously waited for her boss to speak. She’d received an equally icy welcome from her coworkers this morning as she had from Alice the day before.

“Well, I have to say…” Nadine started as she swept in, closing her office door. “Blake called me last night to tell me about your day yesterday.”

“He- he did?”

She watched her boss take her seat, slipping her glasses on. “He was very impressed with your ability to keep up with him and he said you were very astute in anticipating what would be needed next.”

“I- Thank you, I guess. I tried to do my best.”

“He doesn’t impress easily.” Judy looked up from her lap to find her boss studying her. “He mentioned something else, a concern he had about your shadowing him. He expressed that it caused some tension in the office that you were chosen to have the opportunity.”

“Everything’s fine, Ma’am.”

“Judy. There is a reason the junior staff is kept generally separate from the senior staff and it has less to do with status and more to do with keeping a lid on morale issues. I’m sure you’ve heard that I do not usually allow things like this, but for some reason Blake has latched onto the idea of having someone he trained specifically to step in for a time when he has to step away. It’s… we relented because it was his one demand in order to get him to agree to something else.” She sighed. “The Secretary was also very pleased with you as well and would like to speak to you this morning before the first meeting. So, if you are ready, I believe she is already in.”

Judy stood when she did. “Yes. Ma’am.” When Ms. Tolliver collected her folio and made her way out the door, Judy fell in step all the way to the Secretary’s office.

As they passed Blake’s desk, he looked up. “Good morning Nadine, Judy. The Secretary is in and ready for you.”

“Thank you, Blake.” Nadine replied as they headed in. “Good morning, Ma’am.”

“Nadine, good morning!” The Secretary stood. “And Judy, good to have you back in here today. Please, have a seat.” She waited for both to sit before she sat as well and continued. “I’m sure you have gathered by now that Blake will need to step away at times from his desk on a regular basis for personal time. We’ve worked out a schedule, well he has really, based on a variety of things and I am wondering if it would be okay with you that on Thursday afternoons you would leave what you are doing for Nadine and step in for him for the remainder of the day. He will try to limit my movements on those days and you would simply take over small things like answering phones and keeping the schedule on track. Nothing big. This would be for the foreseeable future.” Judy began to roll that over in her mind as the Secretary carried on. “I’m sure yesterday was very overwhelming, but generally what you’ll be doing won’t be that intense.”

“I think I can try, Ma’am.”

“Good.” She nodded to Nadine before pressing the intercom and calling Blake in. Once he entered, she addressed him directly. “Blake, Judy will be moving forward with the plan, so you can make those final arrangements we discussed starting this week if it’s possible.”

Judy thought he looked almost resigned. “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll make the call.”

“Thank you, Blake. Ha- hang back a second please. Thank you ladies for getting this all agreed this morning.”

“You’re welcome, Ma’am.” Nadine rose leading Judy out again.

==

Her first afternoon as the Secretary’s receptionist hadn’t gone as horribly as she’d expected. Blake really had anticipated almost everything before he’d left, and she’d barely had to leave his desk the entire few hours. Alice, Kelly, and most of the others were still shutting her out, so Judy made her way to the bar to celebrate her moderately successful day on her own.

Everyone seemed to think she had some sudden inside track on what was happening, but all she’d seen her first day, aside from the amount of people the Secretary had to talk with in a day, was the volume of paperwork that crossed both Blake and the Secretary’s desks. How they worked the kinds of hours she knew they regularly did; Judy had no idea. And then both took work home!

She had a daiquiri sitting half empty in front of her when a voice addressed her from her left. She turned to find Blake, looking worse for the wear, looking down at her.

“May I?”

“Sure. Why not?”

He seemed to sink onto the stool. “I hope your afternoon was better than mine. No one would tell me if it wasn’t.”

“It was good. Quiet.”

“That’s good.” She thought he sounded despondent. When the bartender stopped, he ordered a scotch neat. “I supposed you’re owed an explanation about all this.”

“You don’t have to, really.”

“If you’re going to get dragged into the morass of rumors and things, at least you should know the truth from the lies.” She waited as he glanced her way and then looked back at his drink. “A number of months ago, we were on a trip and there was an incident with a member of staff from another country. They, he, came to my room under false pretenses and things…devolved.” She watched him finish his scotch and motion for another. “I know there are rumors going around about if I’m losing it or if I’m going to be fired. There’s a fresh one that you’re being groomed to replace me entirely. “

“I haven’t heard.” She shook her head.

He chuckled dryly. “Give it time. You’re filling in so I have time to step away and speak with a therapist. I’ve been informed that I’m not handling things well and it was, well… I suppose it was a condition of my continued employment. Maybe the rumors aren’t entirely baseless.”

Judy worked on some more of her drink. “My first day as Ms. Tolliver’s assistant? There was a rumor you punched a senator.”

“Ah.” A depreciating smile flicked across his face. “Not one of my proudest moments. I thought I saw him doing something to one of the White House staff and… reacted. We weren’t in a meeting, it was after; we were outside the side entrance.” She watched him sip his scotch. “Matt all but threw me into the SUV.” She gave him a questioning look. “Matt and Frank are the Secretary’s primary agents. Matt’s the one directly in charge of the team. He’s a great guy, but I thought that was one ass-chewing that was never going to end.” He sighed. “The first of many.”

She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, unsure. “But you’re getting help now.”

“Working on it.”

“Well. I’m already hated by everyone now, so if you need my help with anything else, just say the word. I don’t have a lot more time on my internship, but I’ll do what I can.”

“I appreciate that.”


	12. Chapter 12

The intercom of the phone on Blake’s desk beeped, making Judy jump at the intrusion. “Judy, please call my motorcade, we have to go to the White House.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She was already reaching for the handset to place the call. She’d bee filling in for Blake for a month now and had mostly gotten used to the routine.

Several minutes later, the Secretary blew by. “Judy, I’m going to need you to come with me, I’m sorry.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” She gathered what she knew she might need for taking notes and rushed to keep up. “I wasn’t aware there was a problem.” Normally Blake warned her if something was brewing.

“There wasn’t until four minutes ago.” She didn’t offer anything else until they were in an SUV. “I’m going to be in the SitRoom, so you’re going to be outside with the other assistants running point in case someone here needs to get information to me. We’re trying to keep China and Japan from coming to blows because then we would have to engage, and I really don’t have time for another world war right now.”

Judy couldn’t help the small smirk at the Secretary’s comment. “I’ll make sure Ms. Tolliver can reach me, Ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

Once they got to the hall outside the SitRoom, Judy saw assistants scattered in chairs, most with their heads down in tablets or on phones. It looked like as much of the crisis was being managed in the hall as she suspected it was in the secured room. At the end near the door, but away from the others, she spotted Stevie on her own and went to sit by her. “Hey. Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” Stevie gave her a kind smile and then lowered her voice so it wouldn’t carry. “I’m a triple whammy- I’m my mom’s daughter, Russell’s intern, and my dad is one of the president’s advisors. None of them will talk within ten feet of me.”

“But Blake talks to you.”

“He’s different.” She sighed. “Why can’t these disasters happen on a day other than Thursday? Sorry, that sounded mean. I just… He’s really the only one who doesn’t treat me weird about having so many connections.”

Judy could understand that. Since she’d started standing in, she felt pretty isolated from the people she’d been working with before as well. “You know he’s off on Thursdays?”

“Did he… Did he tell you why?”

Judy nodded. “He told me where he is each week.”

Stevie gave a small laugh. “Decks a guy who tries to feel me up and gets sent to detention for it. What a way to reward chivalry.”

“Wait… You’re who he did that over?” She tried to remember what Blake had said or what rumors she’d heard, but nothing specific came to mind. “I didn’t know that bit. He told me he did it because of what that guy did to him overseas, that he overreacted.”

Their voices were still soft so no one else would hear them. Stevie replied without looking up at Judy and as she spoke her next words, Judy filled with an overwhelming sense of shock and perhaps a small amount of horror at what was being said.. “Well, if you try and pretend you didn’t get raped, then eventually that catches up with you I suppose. And then he had that massive panic attack at the state dinner and tried to lie about it. No wonder my mom finally gave him an ultimatum.” She finally looked up at Judy, eyes widening at the shock on her face. She clamped a hand over her mouth. “I though because you said- I thought he told you everything! Oh my god! I’m such a horrible human being!” Judy watched her pale. “Oh, I can’t believe I’ve done this to him after everything he’s done for me.” She dumped her things on the seat and started to rush away. “Excuse me.”

Judy stared at the opposite wall. She knew well enough that nothing in DC was ever truly a secret, but still. The flagrant way Stevie had so casually said it was such a violation that she almost felt it herself. Whether it was truth or exaggeration, there was no way she’d be able to unhear those words about him. She tried to think of what to do next. He deserved to know that Stevie had said it, but she didn’t want to sound like she was causing a rift between what she had thought were two friends. Well, she’d thought it up until just now anyway.

“Judy?”

Judy blinked and looked up; the Secretary was standing in front of her with a worried look. “Sorry, Ma’am.” Her voice felt as weak and she felt right now. “I- I’m sorry.”

“I need to reach out to a back-channel contact, you’ll have to reach out to Blake and get the details from him because no one else on my staff knows about it. He’s a cultural attaché.”

Her heart sank. There was no way she could put what Stevie’d done out of her mind and call him now. “I’m sorry, Ma’am… I- I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t? This is the job.” Judy could hear the anger building in her voice. She knew things were already tense and she was adding to the problem.

“Okay.” She swallowed hard, determined to set aside her own issue. “I’ll get it. Do you need to speak to them in person or by phone?”

“In person, our usual spot, on the hour.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll see it’s done.”

“Thank you.”

Judy watched her go back in before nervously pulling out her phone. Stevie hadn’t come back yet, her hands were shaking as she dialed the number.

When he answered, Judy could her Blake sounded as he always did after his Thursday appointments.

“The Secretary said she has a cultural attaché she needs to meet with tonight. She said the usual place, on the hour and that you were the only person who knew how to make contact.” She tried to remain calm and not think about how the man she was starting to think of as a friend’s privacy had been so thoroughly violated.

“Is something going on?”

“I’m outside the SitRoom. All I know is it involves China and Japan.”

“Oh, that.” She guessed he knew more than she did. “I’ll make the call. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Blake.”

“You sound upset.”

She almost wanted to laugh. His skills of perception extended far beyond predicting his boss’s every mood and need. “Now’s not the time. Something happened and it was very jarring and it’s just taking me some time to get my head around it.”

“We’ll talk tonight?” They made a habit of meeting after she got off on Thursdays to run down how the afternoon had gone and she suspected it helped him process his afternoon as well.

“I don’t think I can tonight.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then? Unless I get called in before that. Let MSec know it’s handled.”

“Will do.” She ended the call and sighed. Stevie hadn’t reappeared yet and Judy had no idea what to do now.


	13. Chapter 13

Judy had managed to be too busy or simply too unavailable all of Friday for Blake to speak to her, which wasn’t hard; with things falling apart in Asia, Ms. Tolliver had significantly more work for them to do. Even the others were having to ease up on the constant freeze-out because of the amount of work there was to get through. She managed it, however, and then the weekend was a blessing. Sunday afternoon she received a message from Ms. Tolliver, though, asking her to arrive early because they were having a meeting with the Secretary first thing Monday.

Nervously, she walked through the halls Monday morning, finding Ms. Tolliver’s office first. “Ma’am?”

She’d never seen her boss looking so upset in all the time she’d worked for her. “Right.” She seemed resigned about what was about to happen. “Let’s get this over with.” When her boss slowly walked out of the office, Judy trailed behind, unsure what this was about.

In the corner office, the Secretary didn’t look to be in much of a better state, she was already sitting in a chair by the sofa looking just as bothered with a hint of something more. “Come sit, we need to talk.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She acknowledged softly.

“You met my daughter, Stevie, last week. I know you’ve met her before that, but you two were talking on Thursday.” Judy nodded. “She admitted to me over the weekend what she said to you and I… I’ve dealt with that and Blake is now aware of what she did, but I need to talk to you about it. I want to make sure that you understand that what she did, telling you, was wrong and a serious violation of his privacy and I need to know you understand that you can not ever share what you heard her say.”

Judy realized the other thing she was seeing in the Secretary was ferocity. As much as it was her own daughter who had been the perpetrator, the victim clearly was hers as well and she was currently focused on protecting him. “I understand, Ma’am.”

“It’s not just for while you’re here as an intern.”

“I understand, never a word.” She nodded. She had been horrified to hear it, there was no way she could hurt any other person by repeating it. “I swear to you.” She looked between them; her boss looked apprehensively at the Secretary.

“There’s one other thing.” Nadine started slowly. “It’s not an official offer, but Jillian has applied for a position off the seventh floor. If she gets the transfer, there will be an opening for a full-time assistant. You wouldn’t be working only for me, any of the seniors would be able to give you work, but given the past month, the Secretary and I had been discussing last week, before all of this unfolded, that you would be the primary assistant to Blake if or when he needed one. It would be much of the same work you have been doing for me plus Jay often needs extra hands, but then you would continue helping on the desk when he’s away in a variety of scenarios. At times you might even travel as well.”

“You’re asking if I would want it?”

“Yes.”

“I- I think…yes. If a position came available on Seven, I would love to have a shot at it.”

“Good.” The Secretary stood. “Because I have another request. Due to personal reasons, Blake has taken some time off. I need you to sit the desk for at least a few days if you would please.”

That worried her more than anything, but she agreed; leaving once they dismissed her and carrying her things to Blake’s desk. If her coworkers hated her before, getting the job would make them hate her even more. But it was a really good job where she would make other connections.

==

It took until Thursday night before she heard from Blake again. In those three and a half days, she learned a lot more about being the gatekeeper to everything that happened at the end of the floor. She sat in on enough meetings to learn that all the senior staff could be passionate to the point of anger over a topic and that even when it got a rise out of the Secretary, she was eager and willing to forgive them. Sometimes Judy thought she almost saw a small smile when they did get fired up, as if she were proud of their energy.

She discovered that Ms. Tolliver had the best deadpan snark of all of them. They were all funny, but she could deliver a retort better than any of them. Which wasn’t to say they didn’t all respect the hell out of her as their boss, because she could knock any of them into line with little more than a look.

The thing that surprised Judy perhaps the most, though; seemed to surprise them all a bit, was Russell Jackson’s reaction to Blake not being in the office. Judy long since knew that most of Russell’s offense was to sweep in with shock and awe and get his message out before anyone had time to recover. She knew Blake tried to derail him or at least slow him down, much to what she assumed was Russell’s irritation. With Blake mysteriously gone, Russell hadn’t blown in with his usual campaign of sneak attacking them were they sat. Instead he’d cautiously hovered in the doorway and when someone noticed him, he worriedly asked if Blake was off that day.

His concern didn’t abate either. Each time they ran into him at the White House or anywhere else, he asked first if Blake was still off work. By the time she did her weekly ritual on Thursday, Judy was starting to think Russell’s behavior was a sign of impending apocalypse. When Blake turned up at the bar, she almost didn’t recognize him in jeans, a vintage t-shirt, and a ball cap.

“I want to talk to you, but not in public.” He spoke as soon as he sat beside her. “Somewhere where you are comfortable.”

She looked at him long and hard. He’d had his life violated repeatedly and here he was still making sure she was the one who was comfortable. “My place isn’t far. If you’re wanting totally private that is. I mean, if you’re just wanting something less crowded, the Mall would work too.”

He seemed to think on that before answering. “Your place then.”

“You want a drink first?”

“No. Not tonight.”

When they made it to her apartment, she led him in and watched him look around. “It’s not much, I know.”

“No, it’s fine. I actually am only like a mile up the crossroad from here, we’re practically in the same neighborhood and didn’t even know it.” She watched him nervously take a seat. “I wanted to talk to you about what Stevie said.”

“You don’t have to worry; I’ll never say anything.” She paused. “Of course, I’m sure you thought that about her too. If she was your friend.”

“I- I know you won’t and…” He sighed. “I’ve known Stevie for years, more years than I’ve been at State so, let’s just leave it that while it hurt and I can’t forgive her yet, a tiny part of my thinks I should’ve seen it coming.” She didn’t move as he spoke. Eventually, he seemed to shake himself out of wherever his mind had been. “What she said wasn’t a lie.”

“Oh.” Her voice was whisper-soft.

“I had only told her enough to explain my behavior with the senator and then, well, she was present for the disaster at the dinner.”

“Can I- Can I ask something?” He didn’t move right away, so she waited until he finally gave a small nod and looked up. “You haven’t been at work all week… Are you okay?” He visibly tensed. “Its’- It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“I’m getting there. It was decided that I needed to take some time and get… intensive help talking about it.” He shifted in his seat, shifting the topic as well. “Nadine called me this afternoon and told me the good news. Jillian got the transfer, so in a few weeks you’ll be moving up the aisle and working with me every day.”

Judy could spot a subject change from a mile away but didn’t say anything. “I hadn’t heard anything yet.”

“I know. I asked if I could tell you. And it’s good timing too, we will have three days in New York right about that time, so Nadine’s going to go ahead and assign you everything Jillian would’ve done to get ready. You’ll start sitting in on every staff meeting as my assistant instead of her intern and when we’re there, you’ll be helping me manage everything.”

Judy was momentarily confused by him talking all about work, but then she realized it seemed to calm him down a small amount. “I’ll do whatever is asked of me.”

“He was a junior aide in India.” He shifted the subject again. “Low man on the totem pole and all that. The kind of guy who never actually gets to talk to the Secretary, never gets past me. He gave me a convincing reason to talk in private, offered to come to where we were staying. He lied. I was used to only a couple people being able to read me that well, so I didn’t expect him to take advantage of my weaknesses.”

“She said you…” Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. He only nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m getting there.” It was starting to sound like a mantra.


	14. Chapter 14

Judy was seated at the far end of the table diagonal from Blake’s desk in the corner. Daisy was already in her seat and the Secretary was poking around at the food on the sideboard, drawing irritated glances from her assistant. Ms. Tolliver, because Judy had realized she’d never be anything else in her mind, swept in with a look of mild irritation on her face.

“Morning, Nadine.” The Secretary addressed with a hint of question.

“Morning, Ma’am.” She sighed. “New interns today.”

“Ah.”

“Just about the time I get them how I like them; I’m passing them off to someone else.” Judy watched her sink into her usual chair. “I understand why it’s so valuable to their training to get a foot in the door, but it’s frankly a pain in the neck.”

Judy’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her boss, because it turned out that either way Ms. Tolliver was still officially her boss, express her frustrations so openly. Glancing away, she met Blake’s eyes and he was grinning.

“Maybe it’s time for a regular personal assistant.” She heard Blake suggest.

“Ha! As if I have time to keep up with one of those.” Nadine shook her head, pulling her glasses on. “Interns need handheld enough.”

He raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak, perhaps in defense of himself, but seemed at a loss for words.

The Secretary laughed out loud, carrying coffee and a muffin to her seat beside her Chief of Staff. Blake was out of his chair in an instant, swapping out the muffin for something healthier. “Really, Blake?”

“Really.” As he turned and walked back to his desk, sitting the muffin pointedly beside his laptop, the others filed in talking about an assortment of non-work-related things.

Judy liked sitting at where she did, a bit away from everyone else, it gave her a good view to watch them all interact. Today, Jay took his seat by Daisy, opening his folder and getting settled in while Matt sat to the Secretary’s left, glancing over his shoulder toward Blake before scooting his chair a bit. It was because of her vantage point that she watched him pull out what looked like a napkin from inside his jacket, placing it on the table between them. The Secretary casually glanced her assistant’s way before sliding the napkin closer and opening it to reveal another muffin like the confiscated one. Jay and Daisy both snickered as she broke off a bite and popped it in her mouth. After the third such bite, Judy caught Ms. Tolliver look up and take notice before simply shaking her head with an amused grin.

The domed top was nearly gone when Blake stood to fetch something from his desk, by then the only person still unaware of what was really happening as the meeting carried on. Everyone did their best to look focused when he stepped back in and froze, eyes snapping from the Secretary to the muffin still sitting on his desk and then back again. “That’s it.” He looked around the room, his voice cutting off what Jay had been saying. “Who did it? I want names.” Judy watched him look from person to person, getting no answer from any of them.

The Secretary peeled the bottom out of its paper and popped another bite in her mouth. “Blake, come on! It’s not a big deal.”

His eyes narrowed. “We’ll see.”

Clearly that meant something to her, to all of them, because the others chuckled while she tossed her hands up. “Wait! I won’t do it again. I promise.”

“Who helped you?”

She looked guilty. “Matt did.”

“Hm.” Blake didn’t say more or take the rest of the muffin away, simply returned to his desk and his work, letting the meeting carry on.

==

Her new status on the floor meant Judy found herself with a new group of coworkers to mingle with. Ones that didn’t shut her out as much as Alice and Kelly had. She was now above the new interns and knew not to talk to them as they scuttled nervously about. Carla now looped her in directly on the gossip and Dillon still pestered her for secrets she claimed not to have. She finally got to know Danny and he introduced her to the others one night over beers.

They made up an odd middle-rung in the order of the seventh floor, higher up and with more freedom that the various interns, but still not equal to the senior staffers who, she was learning, had their own hierarchy as well. The middle didn’t seem to label themselves though. It didn’t matter that Carla had been in her position for years or that Danny got to sit in regularly alongside Matt in meetings with the Secretary, they were all equal out here.

Judy’s new desk was completely diagonal from her old one, nearly across from Blake but next to the bank of printers they all shared. It was a noisy, busy spot, but it was also the best place to keep eyes and ears on what was happening. One of her first days at the desk, she had been standing and sorting a binder when Russell had blown through as he often did, hesitating when he got to her in the aisle, eyeing her warily. It seemed he never forgot a face.

Judy wasn’t sure what to expect, but it seemed Ms. Tolliver saw him first and spoke. “She’s not one of mine anymore, Russell.” Her voice was firm and commanding, just like the first time. Russell deflated in relief before she carried on with a rueful smirk. “She’s Blake’s now.” It was a lie, but Judy had to admit, the look that flashed across Russell’s face was worth not correcting her boss.

When he slunk away, Judy turned to her as she closed the distance. “You lied to him.” She whispered, scandalized.

“He won’t ask, and he’ll leave you be, trust me. Sometimes being considered owned by someone else isn’t all bad. No one willingly crosses his staff either.”

Russell’s raised but indistinct voice filtered out of the corner office followed a beat later by the Secretary’s laughter.

“And it knocked him off his game too.” She started to return to her office. “Whatever he was headed in there to rail about, he temporarily forgot about it. Not a bad thing either.”

It was like slowly becoming part of some new club, the seniors who ignored her before definitely weren’t afraid to share a moment if or when it was appropriate, even if much of the time they kept to themselves.

==

Getting the office ready for a dozen people to make a trip to New York turned out to be a bigger production than the trip Judy had experienced as an intern. On the last trip, three of them had essentially only prepared for the two of them plus Ms. Tolliver to be ready, but now she was helping everyone it felt like.

It was going to be faces she mostly knew. Danny, Dillon, and Carla were all joining the staffers they aided normally and, aside from Dillon, Judy was looking forward to working with people she was coming to like. Ms. Tolliver’s new interns were coming along, Judy hadn’t even managed to learn their names yet but knew there was really no point, they would work independently, just as she’d done, for much of the few days, only barely interacting with everyone else.

Closing one binder and starting the next, she pondered over her role. She wasn’t officially assigned to any specific staffer, mostly she would be just helping where she was needed, which was fine, but even the other seniors seemed to defer her time to Blake before taking it up themselves.

“Do you have the latest official schedules printed out?” Blake’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Yeah, here.” She passed them over without fully turning around. “Two changes were made for the afternoon of day two.”

“Oh. Okay.” He hesitated. “That’s a problem.”

“Problem?”

“MSec has a SVTC call that afternoon and as far as I know it can’t be moved.” She heard him sigh. “Some days I feel like I could Yahtzee the schedule and be just as successful as I am now.”

She snickered as he went back to his desk to move things yet again.

==

The trip turned out to be a whirlwind. Little of their normal work halted, it just got added to what they were doing so it made for extremely late nights and multitasking all around. Judy found herself helping Carla type statements in one minute and then an hour later helping Danny proofread and help write speeches. Intermittently, Blake would appear and ask or demand for something from a specific file to a phone number to a meal before vanishing again.

She’d thought she was doing enough until Jay pulled her aside and asked her to prioritize helping Blake first since he was only in the suite when the Secretary was, which wasn’t often. So, she dug out a copy of the schedule he’d made and the next time he burst through the door asking for some food to be brought up, she already had something ready to hand him.

On the last night, the seniors were getting ready for a dinner, the rest of them had the night off once they were out the door. Judy had been offering her help wherever she could to make that happen without incident when the Secretary stopped her outside Daisy’s room. “Judy, have you seen Blake?”

“Um.” She looked around. “No, Ma’am. I can go find him.”

“Would you please? I haven’t seen him in nearly an hour, and we have to go shortly.”

“Yes. I’ll find him.” Judy turned and rushed down the hall. The rooms were split into groups, so she had to turn down the next corridor to find his door. Knocking, she didn’t get any answer.

“Looking for Blake?”

She turned to see Jay strolling by. “Yes. The Secretary was looking for him.”

“No answer?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll try calling him.” Jay pulled out his phone and dialed. They both heard it begin to ring from inside. Jay hung up and pulled out the spare key he had to his friend’s room. “Let me look.”

Judy waited as Jay went in and looked around before coming back out. “And?”

“And he was asleep. He’ll be out in a minute.”

“I’ll let her know.”

==

Judy had joined the others for dinner and drinks across the street, enjoying a small amount of a New York night before heading back upstairs. Once they finished their meal and headed up, Judy remembered she’d left some paperwork in the main suite and headed down, hoping one of the agents at the door would let her in.

Slipping in, she made a beeline for the table, stopping short at the couches. Blake was spread out on one sound asleep. She did her best to find her paperwork silently, but when she turned back, he was watching her with half-open eyes. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine.”

“I didn’t expect you back.”

“I didn’t either. I was sent back for the night.”

Judy wasn’t sure what to say next and the quiet was getting awkward. “Well, goodnight then.”

“Stay?”

She turned back and saw the hopeful look on his face. “Sure.”

He finally sat up. “It’s Thursday.”

It took her a minute to follow along. “First one you’ve had to miss?”

“Yeah.”

“We could still have a drink and talk.”

She watched him rise and vanish behind the counter, returning with a bottle and two glasses. “Only have scotch.”

“Not my favorite, but I guess drinkers can’t be choosers.”

“No.” He made them both a glass and sat in the same spot. “So, how has your week been?”


	15. Chapter 15

“Fancy seeing you here.” Judy turned in surprise at the sound of Carla’s voice.

“Hey, guys.” She greeted her as well as Dillon.

“You come here often?” They sat down beside her.

“Um, it’s a habit. I try to eat healthy all week, this is my cheat night I suppose.” It wasn’t a lie; she was working on a plate of loaded fries while she was waiting for someone else to turn up. “Sometimes I meet a friend.” She hoped it would make them leave.

“So.” Carla started. “Any good gossip lately? I tell you, I really thought last year that some good gossip was going to get started about Blake, rumors got really crazy, but then it all died out in an instant.” She snapped her fingers. “Unless that’s why you’re doing half his job now?”

“I don’t really know anything about him.” _Except everything he’s mentioned, bit by bit, over the last few months_. “I know he works insane hours; I think the Secretary was just trying to give him something more sustainable.”

“So, you’ve never heard if the senator thing was true?” Dillon was leaning over the table.

“I’ve only ever heard the same rumors you have. From what I can tell, I think he’s pretty boring. Now, Matt and Daisy, there’s a gossip source that keeps on giving.” She turned her gaze on Carla. “For two people who work in media and communications, you would think they’d be better at keeping their private affairs private.” She hated this part, when everyone else tried to dig into people’s personal business for no good reason. It seemed harmless enough until you knew a deep, dark secret and had to watch someone put up with the questions.

“They got chewed by Nadine while you were out this afternoon.”

“Really?” Well, that was a shame. General gossip was one thing, but witnessing something in person, that was a bit different. She’d been at the White House with the Secretary.

“Bickering back and forth and she finally just had enough.”

“Hey.” Dillon snapped his fingers. “Look.” His attempts at subtlety were utter failures. “Pretty Boy out drinking alone, that’s gotta mean something.”

Judy glanced and then rolled her eyes at her coworker. “And? Nothing wrong with that. I was sitting here technically alone before you walked up. And I’d much rather being drinking alone than listening to you spout conspiracy.” When he looked appalled, she grinned in faux apology. “Excuse me, I’ve going to go out and call and see where my friend is. Be right back.” She collected her phone and ducked out, texting already by the time she reached the door. She didn’t want Blake to think she had set up an ambush and hoped he’d understand. She wanted to shake her coworkers without tipping them off that she’d been waiting on Blake.

A reply came back almost instantly saying he understood, and it was no big deal, maybe they could meet up somewhere else. She agreed and headed back inside, only risking a momentary glance his way before retaking her seat. “Where were we?” She asked Carla and Dillon.

“I heard from Rachel that the girl in African Affairs is pregnant again and the Deputy Secretary is beside himself because she only came back from mat leave.” Carla poked around at Judy’s fries.

“Wouldn’t that be like her third baby in as many years?”

“Number two was born when number one was barely eleven months old, if word in the hall is right, this one could be born before the first one turns two, or just after. Never mind the time off, I can’t fathom doing that to my body.”

“So, do you think it’s true?”

Carla shrugged. “I have feelers out. I might send a resume down the pipeline just in case, it’s a good department and while I love Seven, I miss having more dependable hours.”

Judy remembered that Carla had talked about a boyfriend recently and grinned. “Hard to have a dating life when some event could keep you at work for hours.”

“Yeah. At least my extra hours would be limited to crises only in Africa.”

“I applied for a spot at the White House.” Dillon suddenly blurted. “Assisting in an advisor’s office. It’s lacky work, but it’d still look good on the resume.”

“You think you could get a spot in the White House?” Judy had a hard time believing he would score that, but then most of his annoying traits were out of the office and not in.

“I have as good a shot as anybody.”

==

It took nearly two hours to get them to leave, by then Blake had long since vanished from the bar. Walking toward the metro stop, she sent another message to see if he was still up for getting together. Judy was almost in her door when he replied to meet at the Mall. Heading back out, she made her way over.

“You were popular tonight.” He greeted when she found him sitting on a bench, two cups of coffee waiting beside him.

“I didn’t expect them to turn up.” Sitting down, she took the drink he held out. “It was a rumor mill stop; they drive me crazy sometimes.”

“Anything good?”

“Matt and Daisy apparently got hauled in by Ms. Tolliver today.”

He laughed. “You can call her Nadine, you know.”

“It’s weird. I’m too used to it now.”

“Matt texted me about that, though. Shame neither of us were there to see it go down. Nadine’s fuse anymore is exceptionally short when they squabble.”

“So, a true rumor then?”

“I got it straight from the ass’s mouth, so yes.”

She nearly choked on her drink and the laughed, turning to find him grinning. “Carla heard from Rachel that there’s a rumor going around that Bella is pregnant again.” She watched him try and follow her words.

“How women keep that straight, I’ll never know. I hadn’t heard that one though, but I’ll keep an ear out if a meeting is requested with MSec by the Deputy. They’re not big fans down there of having constant subs on desks like that.”

“Let me know how it goes.” She felt nerves creep in, but knew he’d want to know. “They mentioned you again.” She sipped her drink. “You know. I never considered how destructive gossip and speculation really are until recently. I do my best to never offer up anything, but until something new and scandalous happens, I don’t think they’ll fully let it go.”

“I appreciate that you do that.”

“It could get better though? Dillon said he’s applied for a spot working for an advisor at the White House. When he told me, I couldn’t help but think my life would be easier with him not stirring up trouble anymore.”

“He still bothers you?”

“Not as much.” His phone ringing ended whatever else she was going to add.

“MSec.” He offered before connecting the call. Judy listened to his half of the conversation, growing worried when he sat up straight, listening closely. As the conversation carried on, he began asking questions about what had happened and then said he’d take care of it, meeting her eyes as he wrapped up the call. As soon as the line disconnected, he was dialing again and, after a minute, leaving a message for someone else.

“What’s wrong?”

She watched him shake his head. “It was MSec, but not work related. Henry, her husband, is in Pittsburg and something happened at the house and Alison took off and now she can’t reach her. There’s a lot more little details, but the sum of it is it’s difficult for her with her security to be out searching the streets for Ali. I’ve got to go, I agreed to help find her before something happens.”

“I’ll come too.” She stood.

“This isn’t…” He shook his head. “This is one of those things I do that isn’t part of the job. Don’t feel like you have to help out.”

“I know. More eyes are better though, right? I’ll help.”

“Okay.” He sighed. “My car is this way.”

==

By the time he’d guided the car to Georgetown, Judy had listened to him alert the rest of the senior staffers to what was going on. Considering this was all their off hours, she was surprised how quickly a coordinated plan came into place. “Security says she turned right out of the house, and Alison’s not one to double back to throw off being followed so we’re going to swing by and work our way up the street. The problem is going to be at the crossroads.”

It took two hours and multiple check-ins before Matt was calling with news that he’d found her and was keeping an eye out, waiting. When they turned up, Jay and Daisy were also there as Blake parked and climbed out of the care with Judy following behind.

“Didn’t know you brought her along.” Jay gestured with his chin. “Alison’s over there. Any idea why she’s upset? This is normally something the other two do.”

“MSec only gave me general information.”

Daisy held up her phone. “I’m going to call her and tell her you have Alison.”

“Thanks. Oh, call Nadine too, she was waiting to hear.”

“Sure.” Daisy walked one way while Blake crossed the road alone in the other direction.

“Hey.” Judy turned at the sound of Jay’s voice. “You were with Blake already?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded. “He’s a good guy.”

“It’s- It’s not like that.” She shook her head. “I mean, yeah I know, but it’s… we’re just friends.”

“That’s good too.” He looked around, pausing where Blake was now sitting beside Alison. “Can never have too many of those.”

Matt jogged back to them. “Daisy and I are going to head off.” He told Jay.

“That’s fine, I doubt Blake’s going to need any help getting Ali home. She got through to everyone?” He gestured toward Daisy.

“Yeah. “

“Good night then.”

“Night.”

Once they were alone, Jay sighed. “Let’s go over and see if they’re ready to get back. I can give you a ride if you want, he’ll have to take her home first and that could take a while.”

“I actually live really close to him I think.” She followed him across the street. Alison was talking quickly, face buried in her hands so that she was barely understandable, though Blake seemed to be following along. Neither she nor Jay said anything to interrupt them until eventually Blake stood, nudging Alison to start walking toward he car. “She okay?”

He nodded, turning to Jay. “From what I can gather it’s mostly a sister thing, I’ll drop her off so you can get back to Abby and Chloe.”

“Sure, Man. Want me to take Judy home?”

“It’s out of your way, but I have a feeling I won’t be going home anytime soon.”

“I really don’t mind either way.” Judy added.

Blake considered them both a moment. “You get back to Abby, she’s probably upset enough you even came out.”

“Okay, good night.”

==

The car ride had been silent except for Alison’s occasional sniffles. At the house, security only nodded to Blake as they all went into the dimly lit house. Alison started to vanish up the stairs, but he caught her by the arm and shook his head. “Kitchen. Go on.” Rerouting, she did as he instructed, trudging through and finding her mother waiting at the table.

“Thanks Blake.” Judy heard the Secretary speak up from where she stopped in the shadows. She was startled at how different she looked now, in plaid lounge pants and a too-big sweater that had slipped off one shoulder, her hair loose. “Ali, sit down. We need to talk about this.”

“Do we have to do it tonight, Mom? Blake has someone with him.”

The room went quiet and Judy realized Blake had turned her way, looking at her expectantly. She stepped into the kitchen nervously. “Ma’am.”

“Judy.” She could hear the surprise. “You were with Blake?”

“We meet up sometimes, Ma’am.” Judy was nervous to be here in a setting like this.

“We get together on Thursdays to talk.” Blake clarified. “It’s a bit of a ritual, she tells me about her afternoon, and I talk sometimes about my afternoon with the therapist.” She didn’t miss how much more comfortable he looked to be than her here.

That clearly surprised her. “You talk to her about therapy?”

He nodded.

“Oh.” Judy watched her think about that a moment before carrying on. “Are you okay with her being here for this? I don’t want something said that you don’t want yet another person to hear.”

Blake studied her a second before turning back. “I’m okay.”


	16. Chapter 16

Judy stared sown at the stacks of papers spread out over the conference room table; she’d been working in the smaller one with Jay all day trying to get some things sorted out. Several times now, she’d helped him like this, and she found he was an interesting guy to work with.

“Here’s this pile done, what’s left?” Jay reentered the room.

“Just these on this end.” She took the paperwork and put it in order. “I think we’re about done.”

He checked his watch. “Good. We’re making good time. How about we stop for lunch and then you can finish up when we get back? I’ll have a meeting with MSec to get to, but you’ve got this under control.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Great.” He waited for her to finish sorting. “Hey, have you tried that new Thai place everyone’s been talking about?”

“Not yet.”

“What to go? It shouldn’t be a bad walk in this weather.”

She was surprised he asked but had no other plans. “Why not.”

“I’ll let Nadine know we’re going then.”

A short time later, Judy was walking along the street with Jay at her side. He was right, it was a nice day to be out walking. “So, do you think all this research will really sway people to support what we want?”

“Well, not doing it won’t sway them.”

“True.”

The conversation stayed strictly on work until they had their meals. “Listen, I know it might sound weird, but I’m glad you’re friends with Blake, he’s… I think the rest of us have been kind of crap friends recently and we kind of created this gaping river of mistrust with him before we, or I at least, realized what damage we were doing.”

“He actually hasn’t mentioned any of you to me. I know with all the rumors and things that swirl around, he is fairly reticent, but I haven’t known him long enough to know if that’s normal or not.” She worked on her food. “Can I ask what you did to him that makes you a crap friend that he wouldn’t trust?”

“Something happened that… honestly I don’t know too much about, he’s still tight-lipped about it. I heard rumors though and I was on the trip and saw him in the days after whatever it was, he was pretty messed up. Looking back, I never just shut up and listened and waited for him to talk to me. We all pushed and pushed and he just kind of shut down. It’s been…ages, and he still doesn’t give any of us the time of day really beyond work related things.”

“Have you told him any of this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Jay shrugged. “It feels awkward to bring it up now.”

“But he was your friend for…years?” She watched him nod. “I don’t know him nearly as well, but he doesn’t seem like the happy loner type to me, but he never talks about doing anything with other people.”

“We all used to get together once or twice a week.”

“And now?”

“We stopped.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess it was… Please don’t tell anyone I said this?” He looked her way. “Matt and Daisy sometimes… Don’t approach a situation with a gentle hand and I had even less idea what was going on then than I do now and I worried they’d make him angry or upset or-” He huffed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because you need to get it out?” She suggested.

He sank back in his seat. “Yeah. Probably. A few years ago something happened totally, it wasn’t anything like whatever I suspect all this is, but he was hurt and I tried to force him to talk, just he and I and he… He kind of lost it. I don’t want to hurt him again by asking the wrong thing.” He paused. “So, anyway. I’m glad he’s found a friend in you. It seems like you know the right things to say because he seems fine.”

An idea niggled at her mind. “Do you know where he’s been going on Thursdays?” She asked like she genuinely didn’t know.

Jay nodded. “He’s been auditing classes, why?”

She shrugged. “Just wondered.”

==

She was ready to speak the moment he sat beside her. “Auditing classes?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Jay thinks you’re auditing classes?”

Blake sank into the seat. “Oh. Yes. I’ve audited courses before either because I want to for my own benefit or for other reasons. I’ve gone and audited Doctor McCord’s classes a time or two to observe things at his request and occasionally I go to spot up and coming students who could have talent. It made for an easy cover.” He pulled the waiting glass closer. “How did you find that out?”

“He told me when he and I had lunch earlier this week.”

“I didn’t know you two were becoming friends.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” She sighed. “Okay, I want to start by saying my natural inclination is to always try and fix things.”

“Noted.”

“He talked about you. Or rather, the friendship between the two of you and he thinks he’s done something to hurt you and is afraid to even say anything anymore.” Judy looked over at him. “He said he pushed you before and you lost it, so he didn’t want to hurt you again, but he thanked me for being your friend and that tells me he wishes he still was.”

“Ah.”

“My opinion is that men are generally morons when it comes to interpersonal stuff.”

She watched him laugh. “Yeah, we can be.”

“My other opinion is that you should talk to him. Look. I watched you guys when the Secretary’s daughter needed found. All of you were off work, not a single person was expected to help, but when you called every single person jumped in. That’s not job loyalty, Blake. You all have a reputation on Seven and further down the building of being super close knit. Some of the stories I heard as an intern.” She shook her head. “And then the trip where I ended up helping out in your stead? I went to karaoke night with everyone else and there were rumors that were caused by you not being there with them. I guess it’s was pretty end of the world for you to not turn up.”

“That night felt pretty end of the world where I was too.” He admitted. “Fine. I’ll talk to him. Maybe if I actually talk about it then they won’t keep speculating.”

Judy didn’t press any further and they sat in silence for several minutes before she shifted the conversation. “Can I ask you something?”

He arched a brow at her. “Maybe.”

“Just how close are you with the Secretary and her family? I mean, I saw you once having drinks with her husband and the other night you didn’t seem bothered that she was sitting there in her pajamas. Not to mention you seemed to know where things were in the kitchen.”

Her observation made him laugh. “It’s a bit of a long story…”


	17. Chapter 17

“Hey Judy, would you do me a favor?”

She looked up at Danny looking eager by her desk. “What’s up?”

“I’m drafting a speech for MSec for the women’s brunch and I’m worried it sounds a bit too much like a guy wrote it. Would you read it over real quick?”

“Sure.” When he held out the pages, she began to read it over. “Woah, what’s this part? Not this.” She scribbled a line out. “Why isn’t Matt helping with this?” She asked as she kept reading.

“Commencement season. I lost count of how many he’s writing, a few of them are MSec’s and one is his own, which I still don’t get. So that leaves me to handle the three upcoming luncheons and a memorial.”

“And a retirement!” Blake interrupted from his desk, announcing that he’d been eavesdropping.

“Right.”

“Well, if you take out these two and then adjust the language around them accordingly you might be good.” She handed Danny back the speech. “Why is Matt giving a speech?”

Danny shrugged and then both turned to look at Blake.

“He was a stand in for the Secretary a few years ago and she was so pleased with how he did she now has him do one every spring. He loves to hate it. I just hate hearing him whine about it.”

“Oh.” Judy shrugged to Danny. “Where are the Secretary’s speeches this year?”

That made Blake grin. “UVA magically asked this year and then University of Miami and Harvard Kennedy School.”

“Magically?” She crossed the aisle and asked as Danny headed back to his desk.

“She waits to be asked to speak and they never ask so I made some calls and put the idea in their heads. UVA because she and her husband are both alumnae as well as former professors plus, I went there too, so it’s just a big family thing. Then Harvard, my alma mater. A few of my college friends will likely be there and I am possibly looking forward to that one.”

“And Miami?”

“Really? You have to ask? Sun, beach, beautiful people? Of course I convinced Miami to ask.”

Judy laughed. “And you think you’re going as well?”

“Of course I’m going, what kind of personal assistant would I be if I didn’t, you know, personally assist her on these very important trips? Putting her in front of all these grads and their families, it really is about so much more than the speech. A lot of people don’t even think about what the State Department does, and this introduces them to that.”

As he rattled it off, she had to hold back more laughter. “Been practicing that a lot?”

Blake shrugged. “You’re not the only one I had to convince that three wasn’t crazy.” He glanced around and then leaned closer. “So, Jay and I are hanging out tonight.”

“Good.” She spotted a hint of nervousness on him. “He’s your friend, Blake. From how both of you describe it, you both want this friendship back on track.”

“You’re right. I’m just being ridiculous. I talk to you and I’ve known you a much shorter time than I’ve known him.”

“And you can call me after if you need to.” She assured him before returning to her own desk.

=MS=

Judy didn’t actually expect Blake to call and she really didn’t expect him to ask if he could come over from what sounded like the back of a cab. When she opened her door, he was leaned against the frame with red eyes and smelling strongly of alcohol. “Are you drunk?”

She watched him squint and think. “If I am, can I still come in?”

“Get in here.” She pulled him in and shut the door. “Did it go bad with Jay?”

He sank onto her couch and curled into himself. “No. Not really.” He frowned. “I told him pretty much everything and he apologized for not being more supportive. My therapist would say it’s progress.”

Judy moved to her kitchen and poured a glass of water and brought it to him. “That’s good, right?”

He huffed. “I don’t want to be this guy. I don’t want to be the victim or the guy who falls apart or the guy who cries over crap. I don’t want to be this guy.” He finished half the glass of water and set it aside. “But it turns out I am.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being that guy.”

“Any other day I would probably agree with you.”

“Well, if it didn’t go bad, then why all this?” She gestured at him.

“I had a few to work up the nerve to tell him what happened.”

“I see.”

“And then I had a few more. Then I was a bit too drunk to remember not to cry about it.”

Judy tipped her head. “I didn’t really peg you for a get-drunk type.”

“I’m not. Usually.” He sucked in a breath but then said nothing.

“Can I ask you something without- I don’t want to upset you.” She waited till he nodded. “Have you actually cried over what happened? Like… Properly let yourself get sad and angry and everything?”

“No.”

At that, she turned back to the kitchen and fished out a bottle and a glass before returning and filling the glass, watching his eyes widen at the volume. She pressed it into his hands. “Maybe that’s what you really need.”

=MS=

Judy checked her watch as she waited for the line to connect. It was still two hours before she had to be in to work, but she wanted to touch base early just to be safe. “Ms. Tolliver, it’s Judy.” She greeted when her boss answered. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Judy. What can I do for you?”

“I, um, well… it’s a bit of a long story, but I don’t think Blake will be able to be in today. At least not for the first part of the day and so I wondered if you wanted me to come in early to cover?”

She could almost see in her mind Ms. Tolliver tilting her head and trying to work out what was going on. “Why isn’t Blake calling me himself?”

“He’s…still asleep.”

“Okay… Why is Blake asleep wherever you are?”

“Oh. He, um, well I’m not sure what I can say without violating his privacy, but he ended up at my place kind of…drunk. And then he drank more? And then he passed out on my couch.”

There was a pause. “Uh huh.” She heard her boss take a breath. “Judy is there anything else that needs to be reported to me? Between the two of you?”

“Oh! No ma’am! It’s…it’s strictly friends between us.” Judy peeked into her living room to be sure Blake was still asleep. “So… I was just wondering about work because I can try and get him to wake up, but he probably won’t be in any condition to be at work anytime soon.”

“Fine. You come in and cover and I’ll talk to him whenever he either calls me himself or turns up.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll be right in.”

“Goodbye.”

With a sigh, Judy turned back to her bedroom to finish getting ready. She’d leave Blake a note and a key so he could lock up when he finally left.

At the office, Judy did her best to rush around and handle all the small things she knew Blake normally took care of in the early mornings and even managed to be at the elevator on time with fresh coffee and a donut. When the Secretary stepped out, she reacted to Judy’s presence with surprise. “Judy! Where’s Blake?”

Judy traded the breakfast items for the Secretary’s bags. “He couldn’t make it in on time, so I arranged to come in for him.”

“That’s… actually really nice. Of course now he’ll remind me constantly that his idea to have you able to stand in at a moment’s notice was a good one.” She smirked. “I hope everything’s okay with him.”

“I- I don’t know any details, Ma’am.” She looked up to find blue eyes studying her closely and remembered that Blake had mentioned the Secretary was ex-CIA and read people as second nature.

“Please come to my office, Judy, and shut the door.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Judy dutifully followed and did as she was asked, then took a seat when the Secretary waved her to one.

“Where’s Blake?”

She ducked her head. “I left him asleep on my couch. I’m not at liberty to share some of it because I think he’s had enough of his privacy shared publicly already… Ma’am.”

“Okay. I agree with that part. Thank you for coming in for him, hopefully today will be an easy enough day.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Judy stood and fled to Blake’s desk to review the daily schedule again.

=MS=

Judy was about ready for lunch when Ms. Tolliver approached the desk. She’d already had Jay asking where Blake was that morning, concerned because he’d assumed he’d been the last one to see him the night before, and then Matt and Daisy asking leading questions. “Ma’am?”

“Blake finally called in, after a conversation I’ve given him the day, but that means you’re going to have a late evening tonight.”

“That’s fine, Ma’am. Anything to help out.”

“Yes. Well. Make sure you take your full lunch and then if you need anything, make sure you ask. I’ll be staying as well until the Secretary leaves tonight.”

Judy left the building for lunch so she could use her phone, finding Blake’s contact. “Hey, are you alive now?” She asked when he answered.

“Just about. My head is killing me. Nadine said you called and covered for me, thanks. I told her everything I can remember.”

“Okay. I just didn’t want to share something that wasn’t mine to talk about.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I’m working late, but if you need to talk more, I’m available any time I’m not working.”

“Thanks, Judy, but I think I’ll be good for now.”


	18. Chapter 18

“I did a thing.” Judy heard Blake whisper as he walked past. She turned and saw a small grin on his face as he carried on toward the conference room.

“Judy.” Ms. Tolliver spoke next, walking the same direction. “Would you please join me in the Secretary’s office.”

“Uh- yes, Ma’am.” She gathered her notepad and pen and rushed after her. “Something wrong?” She glanced in the direction of the conference room.

“No, no. Nothing wrong. Please, this will only take a moment.”

Judy entered the office and stood waiting; Ms. Tolliver stopped at her side.

The Secretary was shuffling paperwork around the desk and looked up at them with a smile. “Good. I have three commencement speeches to give over the next two weeks. Matt will be staying back because he’s managing twenty-three this year and then his own to give, and Daisy doesn’t go on these smaller trips, and there’s really no reason for Jay to come along, but it was suggested that you might be able to help out?”

“Ma’am?”

“It’s a lot of flying back and forth, but having representation from the State Department really does help bolster educating citizens about when we try to do here.” She smirked at Judy’s slight surprise. “Oh, Blake gave me the speech. Repeatedly.” She drew a breath. “But it does make our department more relatable if the face they see isn’t someone old enough to be their parent.”

Judy thought a moment. “Sure. I’d love to come along and help out.”

“Okay. In that case, can you sit in on this meeting then? We’ll be going over the schedules and you’ll need to know when I need to be where.”

==

They were only going to be in Cambridge for the day. They’d arrived early to give the staff at the university time to review what they needed to with the Secretary, leaving a small window of time where Blake had managed to fit in a personal tour of the campus. It gave Judy a better look at who he was both away from work and in it. She wasn’t used to having the security agents around, but he joked with them as if they were friends and even mentioned potential issues or even redirected their boss entirely for the sake of security. She’d never been to the Harvard campus, it was beautiful. She grinned as Blake animatedly shared stories of his undergrad days.

When it was time to head back to where the ceremony was going to take place they walked along until someone called his name. Judy was surprised when the Secretary took a step back, leaving Blake almost in the ring of her security alone.

“Shane, hi! How are you?” Blake greeted the guy leading two others up the sidewalk. “What are you doing here?”

“My youngest brother is graduating today.” Shane laughed. “Now we can make it a family affair.”

“Yes, plundering as a family business. Plenty of family bonding to happen over piles of other people’s hard-earned cash.” At his tone, Judy’s brows shot up and she glanced their boss’s way, she was trying hard to cover an amused grin.

“Hey, man. You had fun doing it too.” Shane turned to the two men with him. “These are my partners, Joe and Malcom. Guys, this is Blake Moran, we graduated together.” He introduced them. “So, what is it you do know? I heard you went back to school and then fell off the face of the earth it seemed. At least, no one in finance ever mentions you making waves.”

“Well, I went to grad school in Virginia and then headed into DC to work.”

“As what, a lobbyist?”

Judy heard Blake laugh. “No. I work for the State Department. The waves I’m involved in making are on a global scale.” The conversation carried on until Blake made an excuse that they had to get to the ceremony. As they resumed their walk, she heard him exhale heavily. “I need a drink now.”

The Secretary laughed but rubbed his back. “It’s okay, Blake. Everyone has their own path and that includes you.”

“He makes in like two months what I make in a year.”

Judy was walking behind them now and watched as the Secretary pulled him into a partial hug as they walked. “Well… Would you have been happy staying in finance?” Their boss carried on.

“No.”

“Are you happy doing your job now?”

“Yes.”

“Some days I’m jealous of Isabelle for staying with the Company and getting to do all the undercover work. Or I’m jealous of Sue for making tenure and getting to be home with her kids all the time. I see their lives and wonder what might have been.” Judy assumed the names were friends of the Secretary. “But Isabelle opted out of having a family to have the career she wanted, and Sue passed on two promotions that I know of to bigger universities because of what she wanted. They’re happy, I’m happy even though it means I miss my kids and Henry a lot and have to deal with stuff we’ve talked about before. And I know you love the work we do. Right?”

“Yeah.” She heard Blake answer.

“Hey. If you’re worried about the money, we’ll talk to Henry again-” She heard her start, but Blake cut her off.

“It’s fine.” He shook his head and then shifted the subject. “We need to get you robed up and on the stage. Then we have a forty-five minute window to sit quietly and meditate before we attend the tea where you will shake a few hands, get a few photos, eat whatever I feed you, and then possibly say a few off the cuff remarks thanking the university for inviting you to speak. And yes, I have the remarks in my pocket, and we’ll review them again on our way in.” Judy watched them both as he’d spoke, the Secretary’s face was a rollercoaster of responses to each item, from distaste at the word meditate to a slight eye roll about food and then amusement over possibly the remarks.

“Should I add that they should thank you for suggesting I be invited to speak?” She was almost laughing.

Blake kept his face straight. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ma’am.”

“Hah!”

==

During the ceremony, Judy stood beside Blake off to the side of the stage and watched everyone. She could remember her own graduation ceremonies, boredom was generally the word of the day. When her boss began to speak, though, she seemed to gain everyone’s attention and then hold it. Glancing up, she saw that Blake was watching the crowd as well. “She’s good, normally half the people here would be dozing off already.”

A smile played at his lips. “She actually hates doing it. But yes. You should’ve seen her as a professor, no one slept in her classes either.”

“You knew her as a professor?”

He nodded. “She was my advisor at UVA.” His eyes drifted to the stage and then back to her. “I had no idea what accepting her as my advisor would do to my life.”

Judy was going to ask what he meant, but the speech was over and the crowd was applauding. She trailed Blake to the bottom of the steps and waited until the Secretary came down.

“You did splendidly, Ma’am.” She heard Blake say. “We’ll wait for the ceremony to end in the motorcade.” He led them, and the agents, across the campus to the waiting vehicles. He helped her in, passed her her phone from his pocket, and then shut the door. “We’ll go in the second one for a bit.” He led Judy to another SUV.

“So what was with the Shane guy?”

==

On the flight home, Judy stared out the window at the fading sunlight. The day hadn’t been anything too stressful, but she was still tired from it. She’d found herself cornered several times at the tea and asked about working at the State Department and she tried to always sound sincere and upbeat. There really hadn’t been a ton of work for her to do, though she was the point of contact for Ms. Tolliver and the other senior staff instead of them running everything directly through Blake who had his hands full with people wanting the Secretary’s time.

Bringing her attention back into the plane, she looked around. It was weird sitting at the front and there being so few of them on board. She was across from Blake and the Secretary appeared asleep across the aisle.

“You don’t have to ride out for the UVA commencement if you don’t want to.” Blake spoke up. “Henry’s going to be going, so I can always use him as backup. Well, he’ll be used as backup either way, but I will have more freedom to manage calls.”

“I really don’t mind going.”

“Okay. Well, it’s a three hour drive out to Charlottesville. Given their connections to the school, it could end up being a long day or even a late night.” He yawned and his jaw cracked. “I’m going to wander a bit. If I fall asleep now, it’ll be hard to wake up when we land.”

Judy nodded and watched him stand and vanish toward the back of the plane.


	19. Chapter 19

Judy was in the back of the SUV with Blake as the motorcade pulled up out front of the house in Georgetown. Between them was a tray of coffees and a box of pastries. She listened as Blake called to let the McCords know they’d arrived and then chuckled as he climbed out. At the door, she could see as Doctor McCord appeared, a grin on his face, and then the three kids filed out, Alison stopped and spoke to Blake a moment before continuing on. Once the kids had disappeared up the street, the Secretary’s husband rounded the SUV and climbed in from the street side, greeting her with a grin. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Sir.”

He chuckled. “Please, call me Henry.” His eyes caught on the food beside her. “Is that to share?”

“Yes, Blake picked it up this morning.”

“They’ll be only a moment.” Sure enough, a few minutes later Blake and their boss exited the house and climbed into the vehicle. The latter made an apology about her hair no cooperating while Blake was muttered something under his breath in response that made the Secretary flame red. “Ready?” Henry asked.

“Yes.” The Secretary answered.

“No thanks to you.” Blake tacked on, eyes on Henry, before shifting the subject to passing out the coffee and pastries.

It was a three-hour drive to Charlottesville and Judy hadn’t expected it to be a ride filled with laughter and stories. She knew by now that her coworker had a close relationship with the McCords, but she was still surprised at how close he was with Henry. The pair joked back and forth most of the ride, often at the Secretary’s expense and to the amusement of the agents at the front. It was very much like they were all a family with no hint of the professional relationship between them until the motorcade finally stopped on the campus.

Blake had already pulled out his folder and was looking it over. “We need to head in and meet with the president and dean first, then we’ll go from there to the staging area.” He checked his watch. “I arranged for a tray of light refreshments to be on hand while we wait, so you’ll be able to take a minute and eat something with a bit of protein in it before making your speech.”

“You didn’t need to do that, Blake.” Judy heard the Secretary brush off as she always did.

“You’ll eat.” Henry responded. Judy looked up in time to see the two men share a look before he looked back to his wife.

“The ceremony shouldn’t be more than an hour, after which time we will have a half hour break for you to rest while the luncheon gets underway. After your break, you will head there for the handshakes and meet and greets. I have allotted two hours of your day to that, but Henry and I will determine at the time if it needs to be shorter.” Judy saw her boss start to interject, but Blake carried on. “The alumni society and also your sorority asked if you could make time for them.”

Henry snickered as Judy watched her boss frown. “I don’t have a sorority, Blake.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, we all know that’s a load of crap.” She was impressed he said it without cracking a grin.

“Maybe on the alumni society, no to the sorority.” The Secretary huffed. “Is that it?”

“Of course not. The rest isn’t until the evening however.”

“Oh, that dinner. I don’t think I’m dressed right for that.”

This time Blake did grin. “A dress is in the other SUV, along with Henry’s nice suit. We’ll have enough time to stop at the farm for you two to change. As it’s a personal event, you won’t be needing me or Judy, so we’ll catch up with you afterward for the trip back to the city.”

Judy saw her shoot her husband a look. “Traitor.”

==

Judy found herself taking care of small tasks while they were in the staging area. There had been some last-minute adjustments to the speech to cut for time and a trip back to the vehicles for something that had been forgotten. The rest of the time she spent surreptitiously watching the other three interact with each other.

“I’m sorry.” Henry softly spoke to Blake when it seemed like his wife was distracted. “I thought the kids would all be gone before you pulled up this morning.”

“It’s okay.” Blake tried to brush off. “Alison looked happier today.”

Judy saw as Henry hesitated. “Yeah. She’s doing better. She and Stevie are back on speaking terms at least.” He glanced at Blake. “How about you?”

“Me?”

“You and Stevie? You two still haven’t talked at all.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Talking to her doesn’t mean you’ve forgiven her, you know.”

Blake sighed. “I’m not at a point where I can trust that I can remain civil with her. The last thing Elizabeth needs is for me to be fighting with one of the family because she’d feel compelled to take sides.” Judy froze momentarily when she heard him use their boss’s first name. He started to turn away until Henry spoke again.

“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you-”

Blake turned back quickly; his voice sharp even at a whisper. “Don’t quote the bible at me.”

Judy watched in surprise as Henry’s hands instantly came up in a sign of surrender. Both men instantly changed demeanors when the Secretary drew their attention. The hostility vanishing into easy smiles for her benefit.

The commencement ceremony itself was much like the last one. They had been provided seating to the side of the stage in the first road of the audience this time. Judy found herself sitting beside Henry during the opening remarks while Blake stood with the Secretary until it was time for her to take the stage. When he joined them at the seats, he leaned over. “I’m sorry for earlier. We shouldn’t have had a discussion like that where you had to witness it.”

“It’s okay. Really.”

He looked unsure but didn’t comment further.

The graduating class was large and this time they had to sit through all of the names being called, but eventually the ceremony reached its conclusion and Judy was following Blake to the side of the stage. She was carrying a bottle of water and as soon as they caught up with the Secretary, Blake was already helping relieve her of the stole and gown she’d been wearing.

“Your speech was very good, Ma’am.” He shared as he took her things and motioned for Judy to pass over the water. “We’re heading back over to the lounge we were in earlier for your break. Henry will head over there with you and I’ll take these things back to the motorcade and check in with Nadine and Jay before we have to get to the luncheon.” He was already moving them away from the crowd.

“If you want me to behave tonight, you’ll have me out of this thing in under two hours.”

“I can arrange it if you’ll allow me to confirm with the alumni society for a drop in?”

“Fine.”

“And your sorority?”

“I don’t have a sorority.” She tried again.

“Ma’am.” Judy watched him give her a disbelieving look.

“Fine. I do have one. But I still don’t want to go.”

“I’ll share your deepest regrets that we couldn’t work them into your schedule.”

“Thank you.” She finally turned and found her husband’s hand.

As they parted ways, Blake leaned in to Henry one last time. “Good luck.”

Judy walked at Blake’s side away from where the detail were heading away with the McCords. “So now what?”

“I’m just dropping these in the SUV and then we have about twenty minutes before we have to be headed back to get her moving to the luncheon.” He sighed. “If you’re up for it, I was thinking a walk around the campus? It’s been years since I’ve been out here and I forgot that it really is beautiful.”

“A walk sounds good.”

Blake stored their things away and then led off down a path at a much more leisurely pace. “I did my grad work here. I’d switched from finance to international relations, so felt a bit out of my depth at first.”

“That’s a big change.”

“Everyone thought I was crazy. Or was having some sort of crisis that I would get through.” He chuckled. “And somehow I landed in a job that simultaneously uses both and neither.”

“I had no idea why I was at college.” Judy admitted. “The first year is basics anyway. My advisor suggested I try out some Poli Sci courses as electives and I guess I was hooked.” She didn’t realize he was walking intentionally until he stopped at a bench and sat down.

“I had a few pre-reqs to rush through to get into the program. One of them was taught by none other than one Doctor McCord. The original professor was on sabbatical and she’d stepped in and took over the course.”

“And the rest is history?”

“Something like that.”

“So that’s what you meant that time, when you said you’d known Stevie a long time.”

Blake nodded. “I ran into Henry around campus enough but when she became my advisor I ended up out on the farm a lot. Stevie was barely driving then, Alison was about eleven I think? Jason would have been like nine. All kids really, but yes, I’ve known her a long time and Elizabeth talked a lot about her.”

Judy gave him an odd look again. “That’s the second time today you’ve done that.”

“Done what?”

“Used the Secretary’s first name.”

“Oh. Sorry. I use it when I’m talking to Henry, generally I’m better about it not carrying over.”

“My advisor was the little old balding guy who wore tweed jackets and round glasses.” She grinned. “He looked like he would be so out of touch with modern…anything, but he was sharp.”

She watched him check his watch. “We should be heading back.” He stood. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can make an excuse to leave again.”

==

The SUV was silent in the darkness as it drove back to the city. Judy leaned into the corner of her seat and let her eyes fall shut as she thought back over to the afternoon. The luncheon had been easy enough and she’d spent much of the hour and a half they were there watching as Blake and Henry seemed to work seamlessly together as they mingled among the other attendees and also kept close to the Secretary. If she hadn’t witnessed the terse moment that morning, she never would have suspected they’d had it.

After they left the luncheon, Blake had accompanied their boss on his own to the alumni thing claiming it was official business. After catching the relieved look on Henry’s face, Judy suspected it was just another one of those things where the two men traded off and since Henry was attending the dinner with his wife, Blake was taking the hit and attending the alumni meeting.

Judy had loved the farm. While the McCords changed, Blake had shown her around the horses and the barns. Once they were seen off with the detail, Blake had produced keys to a car out of the garage and had driven them to dinner in town.

Cracking her eyes open, she looked around the dim vehicle interior. The agents up front were talking softly and it looked like the pair in the middle row might be asleep snuggled together. To her side, Blake was sagged back into the corner of his own seat sound asleep. It had been a very long day, but Judy decided that she’d learned a lot about the kinds of people and personalities that were needed to support someone as busy as her boss.


	20. Chapter 20

“Now this… This is definitely a perk of the job.”

Judy looked over at her coworker and laughed. He was dressed for the beach and wearing a ball cap and the biggest grin she’d ever seen as he reclined in a beach lounger with a drink in his hand. “Pretty convenient that she only had the one event and then that last minute brunch tomorrow… Preventing us from simply flying home tonight.”

“Wasn’t it just?” Even through his sunglasses, she could tell his eyes were dancing.

“So… is there a plan for the rest of the day?” It had all been a bit vague, no doubt intentional. The commencement ceremony had been that morning. They’d taken a red-eye down to Miami and had only dozed on the plane, so as soon as they’d found their hotel, Blake had ordered their boss to her room for a nap, which had amused Judy. The Secretary had been adamant that Blake shouldn’t be treating her like a child, but had done so while wearing a rather childlike pout.

He checked his watch. “I give her thirty minutes before she talks her detail into ignoring me and letting her come down.”

“Really?”

“Well, I told them they could give in after thirty minutes. They’ll play it off like she strong-armed them.”

“You are a disturbing man, Blake.”

“Thank you.” He smirked. “They have already agreed to an hour or two out here on the sand and then dinner I suppose. We have pre-vetted a few restaurants. How do you feel about crab?”

She raised a brow. “Crab is good… Pre-vetted?”

“Check for exits, clear sightlines, traffic patterns….” He sighed. “Likelihood of beautiful people to look at…” He said it wistfully.

Judy burst out laughing. “You are too much.”

He polished off his drink and stood, putting his hand out. “Fresh one?”

“Sure.” She passed him her glass. While he was gone, she settled back, adjusting the wide brim of her hat so it shaded her face while she people watched. There were definitely lots of beautiful people to see, that was for sure. Up the beach in front of the next hotel was a game of volleyball happening in the sand. A pleased smile formed as she let herself get distracted.

“Here you go.” Blake chirped as he dropped back on his lounger. “See something good?”

“What?” Her smile dropped away as she looked over at him.

“That grin you were wearing.” He chuckled. “Something catch your eye?”

“Oh, it was nothing.” She shook her head.

Not giving it up, he leaned forward, propping his arms on his raised knees as he scanned the direction she’d been looking when he’d walked up. “Oh.”

“It’s not-” She started, panic rising, but he cut her off.

“Judy. I swear to you, I’m the last person on earth to ever judge anyone.” She stared at him, eyes wide and he started to continue. “I’m-”

“Hey, guys!” The Secretary suddenly appeared crossing the sand from their hotel. “People watching?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Blake’s attention was instantly on their boss. “Lounger, towels, sunscreen even though you claim you don’t burn, hat, and I will go fetch you a drink.” He had pointed to each item on the wooden divider between the loungers and then stood at the end. “Rum or a beer?”

“Tequila.” The Secretary grinned up at her assistant as she took a seat.

His laugh was slightly sarcastic. “Not a chance in hell.” That he swore so casually to their boss made Judy laugh and then choke slightly on the drink in her mouth.

“Come on, Blake! It’s Miami!”

“Yes, I am aware of that. I would also rather not have to place a call to Daisy asking her to squash photos of you trying to lounge naked.” He said it fast, with confidence, and Judy couldn’t help all out laughing so hard she almost missed him continuing one word more. “Again.”

“I hate you, Blake Moran.” The Secretary mumbled it with no heat.

Judy watched him try to suppress a laugh. “I know you don’t.”

“Fine!” She finally relented. “I guess you’d rather I avoided the rum too then. A beer, but make it a good one? Something craft and local if they have it? At least when the press runs the picture of me drinking in public Daisy’ll be able to spin it that I was supporting local small business.”

“Good call, Ma’am.” He nodded and vanished back toward the bar.

From the other lounger, Judy heard her boss sigh and turned her head. “He’s no fun.”

“Ma’am?”

“Have a little too much  _ one time _ and…” She said it mostly to herself.

Judy’s brows rose, but her boss didn’t continue.

“Beer for you.” Blake returned and handed it over before retaking his seat. “Did you use the sunscreen?”

“Yes.”

Blake turned and looked at Judy, one brow up. “Did she?”

Judy shrugged as she tried to hide a grin.

“Uh huh.” He dug his phone out of the bag.

“Fine! Give it here!”

From her seat, she could see his smirk as the phone was traded for a spray bottle.

The three of them sat watching the waves for a bit before a thought crossed her mind. “Aren’t they hot in their suits?” She twisted back to look at the agents.

=MS=

Judy’s side ached from laughing so hard. They were wrapping up dinner, seated on the patio of the restaurant on their own and Blake and the Secretary had spent the evening swapping stories, mostly about one another.

The afternoon had been relaxing. They’d carried on people watching, only venturing into the surf every now and then to cool off a bit. The conversation that had been dropped before the Secretary had turned up never got restarted, but when the volleyball players passed by on the way to get a drink of their own, Blake had nudged her arm with a small smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows.

As the sun set, the pair’s conversation began to make a subtle shift until the Secretary was quietly calling to her agents, asking if they could give them a bit more privacy. Judy could see that they weren’t in love with the idea, but they moved anyway.

Moving her glass out of the way, the Secretary reached across the table and laid a hand on Blake’s. “How are you doing?”

His brows knit together in confusion. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You haven’t said anything about your personal life in a while. I worry about you.” Judy wondered if it was the alcohol making her ask so plainly.

Blake sighed though, sitting back and pulling his hand away. “Believe it or not, my job doesn’t leave a ton of time for dating.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

He tipped his head back, staring up at the ceiling fan a moment before looking back forward, his lower lip between his teeth. “I’m not there yet.”

The Secretary’s face and voice softened. “But you’re working on it?”

“Elizabeth…”

Judy froze. She’d never heard him, or any of the staff for that matter, address her by her given name. It’d been gentle but still carried an air of warning.

“Fine. I’m sorry.” Judy heard her acquiesce., shifting the topic to something work related. “it’s just… it’s been almost two years?”

They lingered a half hour more before heading back to the hotel. They were three in a row at the end of a hall, security taking up the rooms around them. Judy retreated to her own, which was in the middle, and readied for bed. Through the wall, she made out when someone knocked on the door beside hers and she heard when Blake answered. As she readied for bed, it was quiet for a while and then suddenly she could make out indistinct voices being raised in anger. It only carried on for a few minutes before she heard the door open and thunk shut.

The silence that followed was deafening.

=MS=

Judy stepped off the elevator and looked around for the breakfast area. She spotted Blake by the coffee and walked over. “Morning.”

It took him a minute to respond. “Good morning.”

She glanced around the still mostly empty room. “You okay?” When he turned away without answering, she reached out and caught his arm. “Hey… Are you okay? I heard you argue last night.”

“Can we… Can we not talk about it before the brunch? I need to be on my game for it.”

“Sure. Of course.” She agreed, following him to pick up a plate. “Anything I need to do to plan for the brunch?”

“We’ll need to review the information about our Caribbean trade agreements and tourist information.” He shifted into work mode. “If you want to take the trade, tourism is kind of tricky. It’s nothing formal, but we’ll need everything crammed in our heads so we’re prepared for any question or comment.”

“I can do that.”

“Then it’s right back to the plane. Nadine texted this morning, the Secretary will need to take a SVTC call with India tonight and we have to make it back in time.”

“Gotcha.”


	21. Chapter 21

The call, as it turned out, was a precursor to the Secretary needing to make a trip to the UN. Judy had arrived at work days later to everyone already rushing around despite the early hour. Plans were coming together fast, binders were being assembled and, by the headphones Matt wore, speeches were being drafted.

It was the kind of crazy she was learning to enjoy. Sure, it would be hard if it were every day, but it made a nice break from the monotony of normal desk work.

Somewhere, in that rush of clearing official schedules and making sure everything was in order, she began to pick up on whisperings that niggled in the back of her mind like a worried déjà vu.

Judy overheard Jay and Daisy first, the latter frantically pushing the former on a matter. “He’s been promoted, Jay and since nothing was ever done before, we have to outline a reason to request he not come.”

“That won’t be happening.” She heard Jay sigh. “And you can’t force him to announce, on the record, to two governments what happened. That’s personal and invasive and at this point it’s all he said-he said.”

“Do you think he’ll handle it better seeing him this time? I mean, last time didn’t exactly end well.”

“It’s been a while…”

Daisy’s hushed whisper dropped even softer. “I’d only ever seen one panic attack worse than that one and  _ she _ landed in the hospital from it, remember?” There was stress in her voice.

“And perhaps that was what made her the expert to help him through it.” Judy blinked, her mind whirling distractedly, blocking out the rest of what they might’ve said. She knew now that the panic attack at the state dinner early in her time working for Ms. Tolliver had been had by Blake, though she’d not seen him at all that night.

Carrying on with her work, Judy spent the rest of the day pondering it, occasionally tossing glances across the aisle at her friend. If he knew what the others had been whispering about, there was no sign of it in his demeanor. He covered it well when things bothered him, but hearing his own friends talk about him, she figured, would make him upset.

She meant to ask about it over lunch, but by then she’d wound up in the SVTC room once again working through binders with Jay and listening as Matt kept wandering through to verify details for the speech. On his last trip before they were ready to leave, Matt arrived empty-handed and wearing a frown.

“I just got my ass handed to me by Nadine.”

Jay chuckled and shook his head. “An obvious option here Matt is to stop trying to party or sleep with women from other countries.”

“It wasn’t about that! Well, okay, it was partly about that. But not all of it. She, uh, she hauled me in to make sure I wouldn’t say anything to Blake about, you know.”

“Listen to her for once… On both fronts.” He warned.

“But he’s our friend.”

“And if you like that friendship, trust me, leave it alone.” Matt scoffed, making Jay continue. “I’m serious, Matt. You know what he can get like and we have a lot to get ready still. We don’t have time for you to set off that particular bomb right now.”

She watched as Matt just stared for a moment, mouth partly agape. “Okay. Fine. I will be an ostrich.”

“Thank you. Now, is the speech done?”

“Just handed it over.”

“And she accepted it?”

“Third draft.” He nodded. “She has the next fifteen hours to change it, but for now it’s good. I’m sure I’ll get a dozen overnight texts about it before Doctor McCord takes her phone away.”

=MS=

The overheard conversations had faded into her memory by the time they arrived at the UN and got to work. Part of the job that Judy was beginning to get well versed in was the elbow-rubbing that took place in the small times between the bigger events. There were times when she was waiting in a hall or standing around a buffet spread and, from watching the others, she’d learned that sometimes as much happened there as it did anywhere else.

Tonight it was a cocktail hour. Nothing fancy or particularly formal, they were all in simple business wear, but she still wore a forced smile as she hovered close to the wall, out of the way.

“I saw you over here all alone and thought I would come talk to you.” Judy looked to her left to find a handsome man standing suddenly beside her. “I’m Aarush.”

“Judy.” She smiled.

“And you are part of the US delegation, yes?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Not one for socializing with your coworkers?”

“I’m still kind of new to all this.”

“Ah. I remember being new. Don’t quite fit in with everyone else, it’s difficult.” He shined a smile at her. “It always helps to have that first person to break the ice.”

She had to agree. “Is that an offer?”

“To escort a beautiful woman around the room? Of course it is.” He offered his arm. “So, Judy, what is it you do?”

“Nothing fancy, just an aide like any other. Mostly I guess I’m one of the Secretary’s assistants.”

“I see.” He nodded. “And how do you like government work? I found that the travel is actually much more taxing than I had expected it to be. It isn’t jet setting around the globe when you must bring along your weight in paperwork and you spend your time with sweaty, overweight men in suits.”

She laughed. “No, it’s not.” Casually, she looked around, not seeing any of her coworkers. “I think, actually, that most of my coworkers have slipped out already.”

“So soon?”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Well, if you’d like, we could slip out as well?” There’s plenty of places around here to go for a walk if you’re not ready to call it a night.”

She considered it a moment. “I should probably check in first, just in case, but you know what? I think that’d be nice.”

“Of course.”

Judy walked a few paces away, pulling her phone free from her small bag and typing out a message to Blake quickly, simply letting him know she was leaving the building. He’d been forced by the Secretary to stay in the room instead of attend the cocktail hour and while he’d not specifically said anything to her, she suspected it had to do with the whisperings she’d heard in the office.

“All set?”

She was surprised he was so close. “Sent.” She pushed the phone back into her bag as he offered his arm. “I’m all yours.”


	22. Chapter 22

Judy waited until she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore before pressing against the wall and slowly pushing to her feet. Swallowing back bile that rose in her throat, she tried to think of just where in the building they’d ended up. She’d been distracted by his stories, hadn’t paid attention as they’d come in through an entrance she wasn’t familiar with, and now she wasn’t quite sure how far she was from her room.

With shaking hands, she pushed her skirt down, her eyes searching the floor for her bag. She’d dropped it when he’d grabbed her just inside the door, slamming her into the wall with a hand wrapping around her throat. The door… She stumbled closer. She needed to find her things and get back to her room, to safety. 

She knew she needed help. The pain of forming bruises twinged with each movement. Barely peeking out from under a chair, Judy spotted the side of her bag and dropped to the floor as she reached for it, yanking it out as a sob finally erupted.

Now wasn’t the time to cry about it, Judy reminded herself. She had no clue if he would come back for her or not. Stopping, she looked herself over as best she could, making sure her clothes were covering her body enough to hopefully not draw any unwanted attention.

Edging out of the room, she looked both ways before thinking to herself that they’d turned right into the room from their path outside, so if she went right out of the room, perhaps it would lead her to the main part of the building. Judy kept her eyes to the floor as she worked to keep her steps even, two corners and then the distant ding of an elevator telling her she was getting close.

The lobby area was empty and Judy sent up a mental thank you that an elevator was waiting. The ding must’ve been someone getting off, and she stepped in, huddling in a corner as she pressed the right floor.

The ride took an eternity. Her body trembled as she studied the way the floor glittered under the harsh lights. The walls were shiny, nearly mirrored, but she was afraid to look up; to see what she might look like right now.

Shuddering to a stop, the door slid open and Judy turned right again. So many rights on a night where nothing was.

Eyes to the floor, she clung to the wall. For security purposes, the Secretary and the entire delegation were all of the way at the far end of the hall near the emergency exit. She ignored the person walking the other way, focused on her feet taking her where she needed to go. The person spoke and then spoke again, but she carried on walking.

A hand on her arm made Judy gasp, yanking away with enough force that she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor. “No!” She gasped, throwing a hand out to protect herself from whatever onslaught was to come.

“Hey, hey! It’s just me! Are you… Are you okay? Judy! Hey, look at me?” The person squatted down, holding a hand out cautiously until she lowered her arm and peered up at him.

At Jay.

“What happened? Is…” She watched as his eyes raked over her. Assessing her. His brows pulled together and concern filled his eyes. “Did something happen?”

Judy only blinked at him, only hearing buzzing instead of words.

“Hey. Give me your hand.” He held out his hand and waited for her to reach out to him. Once she had, he slowly stood, bringing her back to her feet with him. “This is… you need a hospital. Who did this to you?”

Wide eyed, she didn’t answer. Cautiously, she watched as he pulled off his suit jacket, holding it out before gently draping it over her shoulders. She was afraid to speak, the urge to burst into tears or throw up, or both, was too close to the surface.

When he touched her arm again, she did her best not to flinch. “Come on. I’ll take you.” It had felt like she’d walked miles from the elevator but now it felt like only yards to get back. Time and distance seemed to stretch and bend in odd directions, constantly changing.

Downstairs, it was a short walk out to the front of the building to where the Secretary’s fleet of SUVs were parked. Jay left her standing on the sidewalk as he approached, speaking to one agent still lingering outside before collecting her and helping her in.

The cabin was silent as the SUV drove to the hospital. Judy was used to the agents usually being silent up front, though she’d expected an interrogation from her coworker. The silence was interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Ma’am?” Jay answered and then listened. “Judy, Ma’am.” The cabin went quiet again and she could barely make out the distant sound of her boss’s voice. “Perhaps Nadine or Daisy could meet us at the hospital, Ma’am. I think maybe she would be more comfortable with a woman present… I think…” She heard his voice drop to a whisper. “She hasn’t actually spoken, Ma’am, but… I just think it would be better if one of them could come… Thank you, Ma’am.” There was a beep as he ended that call and then silence again.

The sway of the SUV lulled her into a haze somewhere between awake and asleep. It was the safest place right now. Awake meant facing the violation she’d just endured and sleep almost guaranteed nightmares. She had no awareness of time passing. No understanding of the roads they’d travelled or turns taken. It should have been terrifying, disorienting, but all she felt was numb.

“Judy.” Jay’s voice was soft. “We’re here.”

She let him help her out and then followed dutifully as he led a path to the desk, whispering quietly and flashing his ID to speed up the process. A woman, a nurse, walked out from a side door and softly called to her, drawing her attention and then asking her to walk to a quiet room away from the bustle of the ER. Jay only followed part way and then vanished, leaving her on her own.

“Judy, right?” The nurse asked.

She nodded.

“Can you tell me why your friend brought you in tonight in your own words?”

“I- I was… There was a guy. He said his name was Aarush, he- he… he…” A sob came out instead of words. “He choked me and he- he touched me.”

“I’m sorry about asking, but can you walk me through everything?”

It took several minutes, but Judy finally nodded and sucked in a breath, slowly walking the nurse through the entire evening from the moment Aarush had introduced himself.

By the time she was done, Judy was exhausted, her eyes closing as she sank against the pillows.

“I’ll give you a few minutes, but I’ll need to take photos and samples for evidence.”

“I understand.”

The nurse stepped out, returning minutes later. “It seems you have a few people down the hall worried about you. Would you like them to come in?”

“Um… wh- who? I don’t want… Who is it?”

“By the sounds of it, very worried friends or coworkers perhaps? I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed, but it’s okay if you need a moment before we take the pictures and things. Sometimes having a friendly face makes that part easier.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Okay.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to them.”

Several minutes passed before the door whispered open again. Judy turned her head to see Nadine step in and ease it back shut. She didn’t speak until she was at her side. “Are you okay?”

There was so much concern in her voice, in her words, that Judy couldn’t help it anymore. The tears wouldn’t stay away, and she began to sob and she curled onto her side. A hand gently landed on her arm before she felt Nadine close the space that remained between them, pulling her into a hug as she wept.

When she finally began to wear herself out, Nadine pulled back only far enough to look down at her. “Are you ready to finish the hard part?”

“I- I think so.”

“I can step out while the nurse finishes.” She offered.

“No! Could you… could you stay?”

“Of course. I just… Did you know who did this? Was it someone you recognized?”

“I’d never seen him before.”

“Oh.”

“He gave me a name. I told the nurse for the police report.”

“Would you… would you tell me? If they are with a diplomat, we’ll have to help the police anyway.”

“He… he said it was Aarush. That was it. No last name.” She stared at her hands, missing the look that passed over Nadine’s face.

“Okay… Give me a moment to pass that along, okay?”

“Okay.”

=MS=

As the nurse slipped out of the room for the last time, Judy saw the Secretary slip in. “How are we doing in here?” Her voice was softer than Judy had ever heard it.

Nadine’s hand was still in hers and she squeezed before she answered on Judy's behalf. “I think we just need a moment and maybe something to drink.” Nadine stood from her chair, looking down. “Water? Juice?”

Judy swallowed before answering. “Water?”

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” Nadine slipped out and the room went quiet again.

“I sent Daisy, Matt, and Blake back with the agents who brought you in. They’re going to go through the security cameras to see where he went. Don’t worry, though, he’ll be found.”

“Not Jay?”

Her boss frowned and moved a chair closer. “He insisted on staying here for you. Daisy is making sure the media doesn’t start asking any questions and Matt and Blake, well…” She trailed off.

“What?”

“How about you rest for now, hm? Nadine will be back in a few minutes.”

It left Judy wondering what they all knew that she didn’t. “Is it… Does he have immunity? Do you know who he is, and nothing will happen to him?”

“No, no Judy. It’s not that. We do know who he is. We’ll find him and he’ll face justice.” The Secretary assured her. “Right now just worry about resting, okay?”

=MS=

The trip back had been quiet and Judy hadn’t minded then, she could still see the others then and took comfort in their closeness. Now… Now she was alone in her room and she hated it. Determined at first, she’d gone through the motions of showering and trying to get ready for sleep, but every sound made her worry if he was coming back. He’d threatened her if she talked and, in the end, she’d talked. Thoughts of what he might do terrified her.

Nervously, she dug out her phone and unlocked it. She needed someone, anyone, to help beat back the pressing emptiness of the room. The call connected and she started without a greeting. “I, um, I can’t sleep and… And I can’t sit in here alone.” She listened to Miss Tolliver offer to come across to her and then end the call. Tugging her sleeves over her hands, she glanced to the unused second bed where her suitcase was still lying open, shifting it to the floor before opening the door to her boss. “Thank you.”

She had never seen her boss, this one anyway, dressed so casually. It took Judy a moment to associate the soft and comfortable looking woman in her room with the one she worked for every day.

“What will help, hm? We could watch TV or talk or… something else?”

“I- I don’t know… TV?”

“Okay.” Nadine found the remote and went to the search menu. “Something simple and we’ll just sit here and watch and see what happens.”

“Can I- can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Who is he? The guy who did this? The Secretary obviously knew something she didn’t want to tell me earlier.”

Judy heard her sigh. “Okay.” Her voice was calm. “Yes, we know who he is and we are assisting the investigation to find him which no doubt will happen shortly. With the entirety of Diplomatic Security as well as all local law agencies looking for him, his options of where to go are very limited. He’ll be held accountable for his crimes. I expect that by morning he will be in custody.”

“Oh… So, who is he?”

“He’s an aide to one of the Ministers from India, two years ago he was a junior aide under a different Minister. He’s the man who hurt Blake. I know he’s shared with you in the past about his struggles. Despite our attempts to dissuade his attendance, we knew he would be here and-”

“That’s why Blake’s been working from up here.” Judy cut off. 

“Yes.”

“I need to see him.” She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “He must be upset, I should go find him.”

Miss Tolliver shook her head, holding her hand up.“Not tonight. Matt’s bunking with him to keep an eye out. You need to look after you right now. Let’s get some sleep all around and deal with everything else in the morning. You’ve been through a lot and need to care for yourself.”

“Keep- Keep an eye out?” That didn’t calm her at all.

Judy saw her frown. “Let’s get through the night, or what’s left of it, okay?”

=MS=

Morning arrived far too soon and Judy pushed up and looked around as she tried to get her hair to stay out of her face. The TV had gone to sleep at some point, probably after they’d drifted off into restless sleep themselves. Remembering, she checked the other bed, surprised Miss Tolliver was still asleep.

Her entire body hurt. She shifted to the edge of the bed and got up, padding to the bathroom to assess the extent of the damage. There was a violent looking handprint around her throat that no amount of makeup was going to hide and she suspected the sore areas on her arms and thighs were from bruises as well. 

Twisting the sink tap on, Judy waited for the water to heat up, soaking a cloth before beginning to wash where her skin was darkening.

Something in her made her try to scrub it away. She couldn't cover it and wanted it gone. Off her body. She didn't want to see, or want the world to see, what he'd done to her. It was as if a switch flipped. She wasn't even aware the violent scrubbing was rubbing her skin raw as fresh, angry sobs wracked her body. 

All of the holding back, holding it in, she couldn't do it anymore. Her eyes caught on the mirror, on the bruises, and she screamed in frustration. She lashed out, swiping everything from the counter and sending it all crashing across the floor and into the walls. 

Judy sank to the floor, back against the wall. How could she have let her guard down? How could she have let this happen?... How could she have been so stupid?

Slender arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight hug, and Judy gasped with surprise. She'd forgotten she wasn't alone! Words were whispered against her hair. "That's it, let it out. Get it all out." 

Judy took the permission and let herself cry angrily until she was worn out. When her body sagged from exhaustion against Miss Tolliver's, she whispered a thank you to her.

She was surprised when her boss didn't pull away but instead shifted into a more comfortable position beside her. "This will happen off and on for a while… I'm sorry for that. I can recommend a therapist in DC for you to talk to if you would like. There are support groups too… I know that might not sound appealing but it really does help." Judy hung on her words, eventually Nadine continued. "The important thing to know is you won't feel like you do right now, forever. I promise that you will get past this."

"I- I'm sorry for freaking out… For probably waking you up." Guilt over that was adding to everything else. She couldn’t fathom what her boss must’ve thought, being woken by her outburst.

"That's okay. Anger is a normal reaction." She drew a breath. "And it was far less jarring than if you'd have, say, tried to take a swing at me."

Judy looked up at her, confused, but her boss's gaze was at the far wall, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. "What?"

"It's nothing… Are you ready to get off the floor now? We will call up some room service and then, if it's what would make you comfortable, we could work on makeup for your throat."

"I- I don't think it will cover up."

"Anything can be covered. It just takes a bit of practice." Judy couldn't help but wonder if that was a hint of sadness in her voice when she said it.


	23. Chapter 23

Judy’s head whipped around and her heart began to pound when three quick raps tapped against her door. “Who’s that?”

Miss Tolliver turned toward the door. After Judy’s breakdown on the bathroom floor, she’d gone back to her own room to get ready while Judy had prepared herself as best as she could for the trip home before returning, fully dressed for the day, to help Judy with some makeup to lessen the sight of the bruises. “It could be Jay with an update. I saw him headed up the hall earlier.” 

Judy listened as she opened the door and someone stepped in. 

“Is she okay?” Blake’s concerned voice filtered around the corner.

Judy stepped through the bathroom doorway and into the main room. She was dressed in slacks and a sleeveless blouse; the blazer would cover her arms later. “Hey.”

His scrutiny made her tense up, but she said nothing about it. She knew what he was seeing now, the bruises staining her skin. “I was so worried.” He took a step forward but then paused. “When I heard something had happened I was so… I demanded to come to the hospital but…” His gaze drifted to Miss Tolliver and then back again, taking another step into the slowly decreasing space between them as he spoke again. “Then I overheard the nurse and then I understood what had been allowed to happen to you and I… All I could think was- not you. Why did something like this have to happen to you.” His voice was thick, heavy with the anguish she could see echoed in his face. He took another step, his hand coming up as if to reach out, but then he fisted it, holding himself back. “Then Nadine told us the name and… And I swear I saw red, Judy. I wanted to kill him. I- I still want to kill him. I’m- I’m so sorry, Judy. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to report him when I had the chance because - because maybe if I had been, he would’ve been stopped sooner.” As his emotions swelled, he’d taken several more slow steps forward.

“I- I understand.” She didn’t, but she also didn’t want to see him tear himself apart. She couldn’t handle that now, despite wanting to be supportive of her friend. There simply wasn’t enough of her left emotionally to witness his falling apart as well.

“No. It was wrong. I was wrong!” The words snapped out, along with two more steps, quicker this time, and then Nadine’s hand was on his arm, hauling him back three steps as he took a breath. “If I’d been stronger or… Or if I’d been at that party with you, maybe… If I hadn’t have failed!” It snapped out again and his fist shook as he took a step again, making up the ground he'd lost to Nadine’s intervention.

Judy swallowed. “This isn’t your fault.”

His voice raised more, nearly shouting. “How can it not be?! Look at you!” Judy felt herself shrink back as his voice echoed against the walls. She caught the split second where he seemed to realize what he’d done as shock and perhaps a tinge of horror appeared in his eyes a moment before Miss Tolliver was between them, facing him.

“Okay.” Nadine manhandled him bodily until he sat down on the end of a bed. “I need you to calm down. You’re upset, I know, but this isn’t helping anyone.”

“I- I’m sorry…” He deflated instantly, turning his emotions back inward as his shoulders curled in and his head hung.

She hated this. She hated that she could still feel that man’s hands on her body, feel where he stole from her and where he left memories pressed into her skin. She hated that everyone knew what had happened, how she’d been violated. She wanted to hold it together, to not let them see her fall apart, but she had a feeling that wasn’t going to last for very long.

She also hated the wedge it seemed to be driving between herself and the people who were her friends. She hated the utterly destroyed look Blake was wearing, even as she knew she looked much the same. She hated the almost empathetic look Miss Tolliver had been wearing since she’d turned up at the hospital. She hated all of it. 

Taking slow steps, she crossed the room and stood before him. At this distance, she knew he could see clearly the individual lines from fingers in the bruises. The places where blood vessels had burst around her eyes from when she’d fought not being able to breathe. 

Aside from Miss Tolliver, she’d instantly recoiled from anyone who’d come close to her since last night. Even the agents that had driven them back had caused her distress simply due to their size. But this was her friend, someone who’d been victimized as well and at this proximity she could see he’d not slept either, had probably had nightmares just like she did.

Judy shoved down her anxiety, her fear, and lifted her arms, taking the final step to wrap him in a hug, which he returned as he pulled her down to sit on his lap. It would’ve been uncomfortably intimate if it weren’t for the fact she knew they were still being watched closely. The first sob startled her when it bubbled out with a gasp; but then it was followed by another. 

And then another.

Her sobs came so fast and hard that it took her too long to realize she wasn’t the only one crying. Blake had tucked his face into her shoulder and was crying as well. Eventually, Judy calmed and pulled back, looking around as she tried to wipe away the final tears. Bottles of water appeared and she looked up, thanking Miss Tolliver for hers and then standing, moving away to give them both some space.

“How about we see what I can manage with some concealer?” She heard her boss ask.

“Yeah. Okay.” Judy trailed over to the chair that was waiting. “You really think it will cover?”

“We can give it a try.” She gave Judy a soft smile. “Tip your head up and let’s see how it goes.”

Judy closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. After several minutes of quiet, a thought she didn’t mean to voice tumbled past her lips. “You’ve had to do this before, uh, cover bruises.” The hand near her throat paused and she opened her eyes. “I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Brown eyes held her gaze for several beats, long enough for Judy to wonder how they could look so hard in some moments but in others, like now, they were so open and maybe even vulnerable. “Yes.” There was no further elaboration and Judy didn’t press. Eventually, her boss stepped back. “I think that’s the best we can do without it becoming obvious you’re wearing makeup to cover something. If you are worried about the bruises showing, I have a scarf you could wear around your neck, but I…” When she trailed off, Judy looked up at her fully. “You may not like the feeling of something tied around your throat so soon after.”

“Oh. Yeah, you’re probably right.” Judy stood and looked in the mirror. “Thank you for trying.” She glanced at her boss in the reflection and caught sight of Blake still sitting at the end of the bed, watching them closely.

=MS=

Breakfast had been taken by the whole team quietly in the common room off the Secretary’s hotel room. Judy felt like everyone seemed to be trying hard to not look at her. Somehow, that was worse than them just staring and being done with it. Nervously, she’d picked at her food.

It had been Jay that had finally come and sat beside her, clearly carrying the urge to protect her still, but at least he was wearing it honestly. “I wanted to tell you personally; they arrested Aarush earlier. He was at the Minister’s side out on the sidewalk, about to get into their motorcade, so cameras saw the arrest. It was public instantly that an anonymous source had come forward and he was being charged with rape. Daisy back door let it slip that there are unconfirmed reports he’s done it before.”

“So he’s… He’s in jail?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “That was first thing this morning and… It’s been an hour since it made the news and it took less than ten minutes for people to start coming forward from around the world. Men, women, all wanting to say that he assaulted them, but they were too afraid to speak up.”

Judy blinked, trying to process his words. “What?” As she worked to process what Jay had said, Blake suddenly appeared and sat beside him.

“Other people?” They watched Jay nod solemnly and Blake’s eyes shifted to her. “It wasn’t just you and me…”

Jay drew a breath. “We didn’t know but it turned out he may be a serial rapist who has used his position to take advantage of the fact that there is no interjurisdictional communication. It seems he targeted people he suspected wouldn’t say a word because they were afraid of how it would make them look…” He trailed off, though Judy could hear the hint of implication in the last word. He drew another breath before starting again. “And he must’ve thought you wouldn’t either, but you did.”

Her mind whirled. He’d done this to other people beyond just the two of them? “How- how many?”

He shook his head. “We don’t know. But I- I know the idea of leaving this room, of worrying he would be around the next corner, that that feeling must be utterly overwhelming and I wanted you to know, he’s locked up. You’re safe.”

Her eyes finally moved from Jay to Blake. “We’re safe.”

Silence settled a moment between them before Jay pushed forward with the rest of what he’d sat down to share with her. “So, I have all of the details for the police report and I’ve already stressed to the DA the importance of you not being called unnecessarily to be deposed or testify on the matter. If they want to talk with you, do practice interviews, they can either fly to DC or we can set it up via SVTC. Your life doesn’t need to be upended any more.” He sighed. “I also think that you should have your own attorney in this. I know it’s a State’s case, but sometimes the victim’s needs and rights get a bit bowled over in the process. I’ve asked around for referrals. You don’t have to choose one of them, but I wanted you to have a list of options that came highly regarded. I spoke to Mike B.”

She recoiled at that and he noticed.

“No, not to speak to you. God no. But he’s a walking who’s who of legal minds. Nadine also has a few names she’s going to touch base with and Russell, of all people, offered to send me a name when the Secretary was speaking to him.”

“I- thank you.” Her eyes drifted around the room.

“If you need anything, let me know.”

There was something comforting, Judy realized, about Jay. He was confident enough to feel dependable without being overbearing. She knew he could run hot when he got emotionally invested in something, but he also could be like now, caring. 


	24. Chapter 24

Judy shuffled paperwork to the side and grabbed the next item off the corner of her desk. The floor was dim, only lit by the sun streaming through the windows and the few lights she’d turned on when she’d come in hours ago. Aarush had made bail and ever since, she’d struggled staying at her apartment. It felt too exposed. She’d decided, once she realized sleep wasn’t going to happen, to hole up at her desk, behind the layers of security the building offered.

“Judy.”

Her head snapped up. She hadn’t heard the elevator or any footsteps, so she was taken completely by surprise to see her boss standing only a few paces way, dressed casually for the weekend.

“What are you doing here?”

“I- I…” She didn’t have a good answer and Miss Tolliver would know a lie if she told it.

She closed the space, dropping her bag to the floor against the desk. “This won’t help you deal with what you went through.”

“He’s out.”

“I know.”

“What if he turns up at my house?”

“Do you have someone who could stay with you or you could stay with for a while?” Judy could see the concern in her eyes. “I know this is very difficult and I know it’s hard to hear he’s out of jail right now, but it won’t be forever.”

“I- I don’t really have anyone. I, um, I did look up those groups you told me about and there is one that meets tonight actually. I thought I would go.” Tears formed in her eyes as she thought about it. “What can it hurt, right?”

“What about… What about Blake?”

“What about him?”

“Have you called him? I know you seemed to be avoiding him on the trip home, but he does understand what you’re going through and he wouldn’t ever judge you for any of how you are feeling.”

Judy shook her head. “No. I just, I can’t.”

“May I ask why?”

She sniffled. “You know what I can’t get out of my head?” She looked up at her boss. “What just eats at me constantly?”

There was a paused before her boss answered, clearly worried about what she was about to say. “What?”

“The rest of you knew. You know Aarush was going to be there. You knew his name. Any one of you could have taken the time to give me just a little bit of information and I might’ve not ended up in the situation I did.” Her voice crept up, as did her blood pressure. She stood. “A name, a picture, that’s all I would’ve needed, and I never would’ve gone with him if I’d known. All of you have known for years and you still didn’t do something so basic to let me protect myself.” She huffed. “And then you all rush in and act like suddenly you care about what happened to me.”

The room went quiet. Judy watched as Miss Tolliver stared down at her shoes for a minute before cautiously looking up. “You’re right.” Her voice was soft.

“What?”

“You are right.” She nodded. “Even if we assumed he only attacked Blake, we still should have made sure you knew who he was. A predator is still a predator. We did you a disservice.”

Judy stared at her in silence.

“If there’s anything I can do, Judy…”

She shook her head.

“Do you… would you want me to call Blake?” When Judy looked up at her again, she could see that despite her outburst, her boss was still worried about her. “It’s not good for you to spend the whole weekend here on your own and I worry that if I leave without some plan in place, that’s what you’ll do. I know I can’t take back my part in how this happened, but I don’t want to see you destroy yourself.”

“I won’t stay.”

She ducked her head, but Judy heard her next comment anyway. “I’ve heard that before.”

“What?”

“I know this is making it about me, but I knew something had happened to Blake in India and I didn’t force him to talk then. I didn’t keep pushing when he started hiding away on the weekends so he didn’t have to sit at home. Even after I had a good picture of reality, I still told myself he was handling it and he would muddle through and I did nothing. I watched him fall apart, I watched him have panic attacks, get into physical altercations… I made so many mistakes and then I made excuses for them.”

“So, what? This is penance? You screwed up with him and you screwed up with me and now you think helping me will make it all better?”

“No.” She sighed. “But I’d like to be sure that this time it doesn’t get any worse. I tried to be the boss from a distance who didn’t get involved with him and it led to me failing to be a decent person and I just… I can’t do that again.” Judy only stared until she spoke again. “Is there anyone I can call?”

“Um… I know Blake’s worried but… I don’t think I can handle him trying to beat himself up over it right now.”

“I see. Well… how about another friend?”

“I don’t want to keep having to tell people what happened.” She sank back into her chair. “Do you think…”

After several beats, she was prompted. “Think what?”

“Jay. He was the one who found me. He… we’ve talked sometimes before. He, um, after he didn’t… He didn’t act different.”

There was another pause and then her boss slowly nodded, reaching for her bag. “I’ll go call him.”

Judy nodded once and then watched her walk away. The outer office lapsed back into silence after that. Judy could just make out from the angle that Miss Tolliver was working at her own desk, but she never came back out to speak to her and Judy didn’t have the urge to go it.

An hour passed and then there was the soft ding of an elevator, but Judy didn’t look up. Another fifteen minutes passed and then someone was pushing Blake’s chair across the floor.

“Are you okay?” She looked up and watched Jay take a seat, worry creasing his face. “Nadine told me Aarush got bail. That must be… terrifying. I am sorry.”

“Why are you being so nice?”

“What?”

“Everyone else has been really nervous and like… Like they’re afraid to upset me but you… You aren’t like that.”

He leaned forward. “I, um, in college? A good friend of mine, she went to this party off campus and there was this guy, she was really into him. He was in one of her classes and she’d had this crush on him. Well, he showed interest in her. She was drunk. He assaulted her and she was… She called me to come pick her up. She was beat up, bloodied up, clothes torn. I had no idea what to do to help her and I think I just made the whole situation worse. She filed a report with the college, and it went to their mock court system and since she was drunk, he got off with academic probation. She was messed up after that. I did about every thing wrong someone in my position could do.” He drew a breath. “After college, it still bothered me so I- I found a support group. I talked to the people who help victims. I talked to survivors as well eventually. I learned how to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing.”

She was as surprised as he was when she burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands until she was being pulled into a hug. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He replied once she calmed down. “Nadine said you were afraid to go home. I do agree with her that you shouldn’t hide away in here, it’s not good for you. I, um, you’re welcome to come to my place.” He glanced toward the senior staff offices. “There is one small thing you should know first.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s, um, you should come to Nadine’s office first.” He backed away, allowing her to clean herself up and follow him. At the door, he pushed it open and let her go in first. Miss Tolliver wasn’t at her desk or even on the low sofa, instead she was sitting on the floor, a small girl with brown hair in front of her. “Judy, this is my daughter Chloe.” He addressed her before turning to their boss. “She was okay?”

“She’s a dream, Jay.” She put her hand out to allow him to help her up. “It’s always a delight to spend time with her. If you ever need a sitter…” She looked between them. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I thought Judy could help Chloe and I take a trip to the National Zoo today. Get out in the sun a bit.” He looked over to see if she was agreeable.

“I’d like that.”

She watched Miss Tolliver look between then before slowly nodding. “Well, have a good weekend you two.” Chloe took that moment to launch herself at her momentary-babysitter’s legs, making her laugh and scoop her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You have a good weekend too, Miss Chloe.”

=MS=

Judy watched Chloe waving at the pandas. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this on your weekend with Chloe.”

“No, it’s fine. She likes getting to pop into the office, actually. The Secretary tends to share whatever treats she has on hand and Nadine, well, she hates to admit it but she kind of enjoys the opportunity to spoil her a bit.”

“I saw that. I guess I was a little surprised she was on the floor with her.”

He shrugged, a proud bashful look on his face. “When Chloe was born, she turned out to be a bit of a highlight in a really dark time. At first, I thought I was ruining my career by having Chloe with me so much, but it turned out that when things got hard, Chloe continued to be a bit of a light. For everyone.”

“I can see that. It’s hard to remember what I’ve been so worried about watching her enjoy the animals.”

“How are you doing? Nadine did tell me about the discussion between the two of you earlier.”

She snorted. “Discussion? You mean when I yelled at her.”

“Yeah, that. Which… she doesn’t disagree with what you said and neither do I. We got tunnel vision so bad we failed to take the time to simply inform you. Why aren’t you mad at me about it?”

“I should be.” She agreed. “I don’t know. Maybe because you were the one to help me and you’ve been the one being nice and normal.”


	25. Chapter 25

Judy was walking down the hall in front of the senior offices when Jay popped his head out of his office. “Judy, got a second?”

“Sure.” She backtracked to his doorway.

“Are we still on for driving to that group tonight?” In the two months since being attacked, he’d volunteered to drive her to almost every single survivor’s meeting she attended, waiting in the car for her to come out before often ending up at a diner as she processed the evening.

“I thought you might have Chloe tonight though?”

Jay shrugged one shoulder. “Abby’s thing got moved so it’s a normal schedule this week.” He flashed her a smile. “It’s up to you.”

“Then yes, I would appreciate that.” She nodded as she spoke. “So, you have Chloe this weekend then?”

“I do. She was already begging last night to go back to the zoo again. I think she just liked all the things you know about the animals.”

“I think we about exhausted all my knowledge already.”

“She’s little, she won’t care.”

“Well, if you’re up for company and for walking all day, I am fine with going to the zoo anytime.”

“Good.”

They stared at one another for a long moment before Judy realized she should look away. She turned back toward her original path, a slight warmth creeping up her neck, and made it only a few steps before realizing she was being watched. “Hi. There are the requisition forms the Secretary needed.” She held the file out to Blake, who looked from her to Jay’s office and back again.

They were tentatively returning to friendly terms. Judy had found herself struggling between being able to commiserate and holding him responsible in her mind for not sharing information just as the others had failed to do. “You’re spending off hours with Jay?”

“I spend off hours with you.”

He made a small noise. “You are spending off hours with Jay and his daughter?” He amended.

“A few times, yes. You know he has her as often as he can and Abby’s very generous with letting him take the time.”

He pursed his lips together. “He talks to you about Abby?”

“Of course, and, I mean, she really is sweet, but I can totally understand being tired of this job.”

“You’ve…met her?”

“When he had to drop Chloe off a few weeks ago.” She brushed past him to return to her desk.

This time he frowned, rushing to follow her. “You’re dating Jay.”

That made her laugh. “Blake. Just… no. He’s my friend, just like you’re my friend. Nothing more. Stop being all…” She waved a hand up and down at him.

“All what?”

“All you. Look. I know things have been rocky and I know some of that is on me. How about Thursday we meet up like we used to, huh? Have a drink, gossip about our coworkers, it’ll be great.” She watched him nod. “Good. Well, I have work to do.”

“Right.”

=MS=

She settled onto a barstool beside Blake and waited. He’d been in a bit of a mood since their conversation at the beginning of the week. Hoping to prod him into sharing, she leaned forward on the bar, looking at him intently. “Just get it all out. I’m listening now.”

She watched as a variety of emotions played on his face. “I- I want to be able to tell you but it’s like… Like I shouldn’t put that on you so soon.”

“Tell me about… what?”

“What he did to me.” He seemed to sag into himself. “I know I’ve been going to therapy and it has been helping I think, it’s just… To me it feels like it would help if I could just share with the person who was victimized by the same man.” He huffed. “Mostly I miss what we had before. I really looked forward to coming to work to see you and it’s been a rough few months.”

“I know. I’m- I’m sorry…kind of. It does feel like everyone left me out to die by not wanting to talk about it and maybe they were trying to protect some shred of your dignity, I don’t know. But… I got hurt. And where do we make this line between protecting ourselves from being hurt more and being responsible for standing up and speaking out, so it doesn’t happen again.”

“I’ve wondered that for weeks and I still don’t have an answer.”

“Me neither.” She stared at her drink. “You really want to talk about it?”

“It took me a long time to spell it out for the therapist. He said that learning to be frank will not only help me but could help others and we know there are others.” He finished his drink. “Not that I want to end up the face of a movement to speak out against assault and rape.”

“I don’t either.” Judy turned his way. “I want to pretend it didn’t happen but… it’s like I can never get away from the reminders.”

“You seem to be doing better than I did.”

“I think that’s because of you.” When he turned to look at her, she clarified. “I think everyone’s more wary to not repeat their mistakes.” She placed her hand on his arm. “I’ll do better at being a friend, okay? And we’ll get together at my place or something and you can tell me whatever you are comfortable with. I’ll listen. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”


	26. Chapter 26

“Chloe, come on. Don’t climb on Judy like that. I’m sorry.” Jay reached for his daughter as Judy laughed.

“She’s fine, Jay. Really.” She was having dinner with father and daughter after an afternoon at the park. Chloe was still excited from the day out and was less interested in her meal that in crawling on Judy’s lap with crayons and paper she’d dragged back out. “Tell your Daddy I don’t mind you in my lap.”

“That may be, but it’s someone’s bedtime.” He lifted Chloe into his arms as she began to squirm and squeal.

“Hey, Chloe?” She caught her attention. “If you listen to Daddy, maybe I can come back again another day, huh? I’ll color with you then.”

When his daughter instantly stilled in his arms, Jay rolled his eyes and laughed. “You spoil her.” He got as far as the doorway before turning back. “Give me a bit to get her into bed?”

“Sure. I’ll clean up the table.” Judy stood and began gathering plates.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Jay… go put your daughter to bed.” She watched him nod reluctantly before doing just that. As she gathered the dishes and cleared the table, Judy ran the day and the past few months over in her mind. What had started as time spent together surrounding her group meetings and occasional trips to a therapist had gradually expanded to include days out with Chloe and, now more recently, meals afterward. The hint of accusation from several weeks earlier lingered quietly in the back of her mind as she began clearing up the kitchen as well.

A half hour past as she was lost in her musings before Jay reappeared. “Hey, sorry about that. She wanted extra stories.”

Judy smiled at him. “It’s no problem. Dad time is important.”

“You, uh, you got it all cleaned up already. You didn’t have to do it all on your own.”

“Yeah, well, I could say the same to you. You had Chloe to put to bed, you don’t need to do all of this on your own either when I’m just sitting here, and I ate here too.”

“Right…” She watched him look around nervously.

“Jay?”

“Yeah?” His eyes came up to her.

“Something was looping through my mind and… can I ask you something? If I’m totally off base though, I don’t want it to ruin our thing.”

“Go- go ahead.”

“What’s happening here?”

“Happening?”

She felt a blush start up her neck. “Is there…” She huffed. “Does what we’re doing count as dating?”

“Do- do you want it to count as dating?”

She had to think about that one a moment. “I’m not running away screaming from the idea.”

That made him huff a small chuckle. “From where I stand?” When he glanced up, she nodded to encourage him to continue. “I really like spending days like today with you. You like Chloe and she loves you. You get along with Abby which is… wonderful to me and maybe a little scary too. But I know… I know you’re still healing, and you have a long way to go on that. It’s only been a few months; the case is still working its way through the channels and I… I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything.”

“I like spending time with you too. And with Chloe. I just didn’t realize that’s what we’d been doing.”

“I didn’t really realize it either.” He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “So, now what do we do then?”

“We could start by trying out a real date.”

“Next weekend?”

“I agreed to hang out with Blake on Friday night, he wants to talk about…things… But Saturday is open?”

“And I don’t have Chloe next weekend.”

“I know.”

“Right.” He laughed. “Um, yes. I will make plans at let you know.”

“I’d like that.”

=MS=

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I’d turn into such a mess.” Blake apologized again.

“No, it’s okay.” She’d been crying herself as well. It was late, Blake had been at her apartment for hours already and it seemed neither of them were ready to wrap it up. Standing, she fetched fresh drinks for both of them. She was well on her way to tipsy and he… she hated to admit that he wasn’t going to be walking himself the mile home in his condition. “I wish you were going to see justice for yourself. I really do. It must make the pain so much worse knowing he’ll never be punished for what he did.”

“It’s my fault.” He slurred. “All of it is my fault. Do you know how many people they said he attacked after me? Do you know?”

She did know. “Blake… You can’t let that eat you up.”

“Six!” He answered anyway. “Six people might’ve not been hurt if I’d done the right thing.” He worked on his fresh drink.

Judy tried to tug it free from his hand. “I think you need to slow down, Blake.” She’d seem him drunk once before and he’d been almost as emotional then as he was now. “Give it here.” She gently ordered, glad when he relinquished it. Moving to sit closer to him, she knelt on the couch, so she was a bit taller and pulled him into a hug. “It’s okay. You are okay now, you’re doing better. You can’t let this eat you up anymore and you really can’t carry the weight of what he did on your shoulders.”

His arms were around her waist, hugging her, as his face rested against her chest. “Why don’t you still blame me?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time talking about it in therapy. I didn’t want it to be a wedge between us and so I worked it out. There are still days I’m angry, but I think I’m doing better… I want to be able to forgive you.”

“Thank you.” His slurred words were muffled against her shirt. “Thank you for wanting to.” His voice caught and then she could feel as he began to sob again.

Judy rubbed his back. “Hey, you’re going to be okay. I’m going to be okay. We’ll get past this, I promise.”

When he began to calm again, he looked up at her, eyes watery.

She was just about to suggest he simply crash on her couch to sleep off the amount he’d drank when he leaned into her, pushing her back as he kissed her sloppily. Trying to pull away, she shoved at his shoulders until she got him to back up. “Blake!” She was already beginning to shake. Sure, he was her friend, but he was also drunk and the unpredictableness of that only added to her panic. “What the hell?!”

“I thought… I thought there was something…” He slowly pushed back into an upright position, his eyes wide.

“You thought wrong.” Carefully, she stood from the couch and put more distance between them. “You have to leave.”

“I’m sorry, Judy.”

“No!” She raised one shaking fist in the air. “You, of all people, thought _that_ was a good idea?” She shook her head. “How could you be so stupid?”

“I didn’t think.”

“That’s an understatement!” She watched as he tried to stand, failing to find his balance. “You are so… drunk. You’re a mess and- and an idiot. A fucking idiot.”

He tried again, managing to find his footing, though walking seemed beyond him. “I’ll go.”

“Wait.” She put her hand up, stopping him. “As much as I’d really like to do some permanent damage to you right now, you can’t walk home like this. Either you’ll end up arrested or dead from walking into traffic.”

“Probably not a bad thing.” He mumbled.

“Really? Self-pity isn’t going to win you anything here.”

“What do you expect me to do? I can’t stay and I can’t go. What then? I sleep in the hallway?”

Judy sighed. “Just… sit back down and don’t move. Okay? I’ll- I’ll call Jay. Just don’t- don’t move.” She waited till he sat and nodded before turning to find her phone.

When Jay finally turned up, Jud let him in quietly. “Where is he?” It sounded like he’d spent the whole trip over fuming.

“Passed out now on the couch.”

“Are you okay?” Jay cautiously hovered his hands over her shoulders, waiting until she leaned in before resting them into place. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m okay, I think. All he did really was kiss me.”

He studied her closely. “And?”

She didn’t want him to react negatively. “I mean, he tried to push me back, we were on the couch, but… It was only for a minute and then he backed off when I shoved him.”

“He tried or he did?”

“He, um, did.” She watched as anger flashed in his eyes as he pulled away and turned to the couch. “Jay, stop.” She grabbed his arm. “He’s not going to be doing much of anything tonight. I- I didn’t realize he’d be unconscious by the time you got here, or I wouldn’t have called.”

“No, I’m glad you did. You still shouldn’t be alone with him in the apartment after he did that. You go get some sleep, I’ll sit out here and make sure he stays put until morning.”

“You’re going to guard me?” It was a little sweet in a weird kind of way. “It’s Blake, he’s not going to intentionally hurt me.”

“You’re really defending him right now?” He sounded incredulous. “I’ll- I’ll be out here.” He opened his arms hesitantly. “A hug?”

“Yeah, that might be good.” She stepped forward and let him hug her. It felt nice, comforting, and she realized she didn’t want to pull away.

“Go sleep.” He finally nudged her toward her room.

=MS=

Judy shot up in bed, the room echoing from a scream. The nightmare had been horrible, terrifying. She was gasping for breath when the bedroom door opened.

“You okay?” Jay asked, backlit by the light from the other room.

“Fine. I just- I just had a nightmare.”

“May I-” He gestured into the room.

“Sure.” She watched as he cautiously crossed and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Want to talk about it?”

“It started as the normal nightmare and then… Then I look up and instead of _him_ , it was…”

“Blake?”

“Yeah.”

“I am sorry, Judy.”

She rubbed her hands over her face. “This sucks. I just- I just want to sleep.” She eyed him in the dark. “Would you sit with me for a bit?”

“Are- are you sure?”

“I don’t really want to be alone. I keep thinking I hear something, and my mind plays tricks on me.”

There was a pause before she made out him nodding. “Okay.”

=MS=

Judy yawned and stretched, confused for a moment at the weight across her waist. Twisting, she realized that at some point after she’d fallen asleep, Jay, who was still laying on top of the duvet, had rolled over, one arm draping across her. She nudged his arm. “Hey.”

He inhaled as he started to rouse and then inhaled sharply as he seemed to suddenly realize how he was laying, yanking his arm back. “Shit! Sorry. I’m- I’m really sorry.”

“You’re fine. I wasn’t quite as freaked out as I thought I’d be.”

“Yeah, well, it was still wrong of me. You’re still not ready and after last night…” He glanced through the open doorway. “I should go see if Blake is awake yet so I can haul him home.”

As he vanished into the next room, Judy sat up, pulling her knees up so she could rest her elbows on them, raking her hands through her hair. She let her mind wander, reviewing the past, until she could make out the two men talking. Finally getting out of bed, she grabbed a robe before heading to see how it was going.

They didn’t notice her presence until Blake had finished retelling Jay everything he’d remembered, his eyes shut and his head resting in one hand the entire time. When he’d finally looked up, that’s when he noticed her. “I am sorry, Judy.”

“You said that last night.”

“Well, I’m sober enough to mean it now.”

“As nice as that will be to hear later, I’m not really ready for it yet. Jay came by last night to take you home; he can drop you off and I’ll see you Monday at work.”

“Right.” Blake stood, wobbling a moment before finding his balance.

Jay crossed to Judy, offering another hug before whispering to her. “Do you still want to be on for tonight?”

She’d forgotten all about their date. “I want to be.”

“We’ll play it by ear then.”

Judy nodded. “Call me once you’ve dropped him off?”

“Of course.”

Her attention shifted back to where Blake was staring.

“You two…” He looked between them. “You two _are_ dating. Even though you said…”

“We weren’t then. Tonight was going to be our first real date.”

“But this… I screwed up but then I- I really screwed up.”

“Blake-”

“No.” He headed for the door. “I really am sorry. To- to both of you. Jay, I didn’t know, really, or I never would’ve- I never would’ve done that. I’m sorry.”

Jay pulled away from her and chased after his friend. “We need to talk, Blake. I’m your ride home.”

The door shut behind the pair and for the first time since the night before, Judy was alone.


	27. Chapter 27

Judy sat on the low sofa with her eyes on the floor. Judy was at her side and Blake was curled in on himself in the corner behind her, out of sight.

Miss Tolliver shut her office door and silently crossed back to her desk chair. “Okay.” It came out as a sigh. “It’s been a month of this, and I need to know what’s going on.” When none of them spoke up, she pressed on. “I have to say, for three people who are clearly in the midst of some sort of altercation with one another, you all have been doing an impressive job of it not obviously affecting our work, but the tension between the three of you is setting everyone on this floor on edge and I need to know what’s going on.” Her eyes moved from where Judy was still staring at the floor to where Blake wasn’t looking at anyone and then to Jay who was looking her way. “Jay, spell it out for me.”

“Nadine… it’s nothing, I swear.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Fine… About a month ago, Judy and Blake got together to discuss their…experiences.” He looked over at the two of them before going on. “I wasn’t there. I got a call from her to come pick Blake up and take him home. He- he attempted to make a pass at her and she was uncomfortable.”

Judy looked up in time to see her boss’s gaze jump to her. “I was trying to mend fences, I guess. I wanted to get our friendship back on track.”

Nadine’s eyes moved again. “Blake?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll never say that enough times… I don’t know what I was thinking, I shouldn’t have gotten that drunk.” He shook his head. “I hurt Judy because of it and then… then I hurt Jay too.”

“Hurt?” The concern was clear in her voice.

“I scared her. I put her in a position that I’m sure triggered all sorts of horrible things.”

“Why didn’t any of you report this to me sooner?”

“It wasn’t a big deal, Nadine.” Jay tried.

“It very much is a big deal.” Her voice was sharp. “Judy… I would’ve moved Blake so you didn’t have to work with him any longer.”

“But…” She didn’t understand. “But only the Secretary can do that, I thought.”

She scoffed. “I’m pretty sure she’d fire him.”

Judy’s eyes widened. “No.”

She watched her boss wave the idea off before looking to Jay again. “And how do you play into this?”

“The weekend this all happened… Judy and I had been spending time since New York together and we’d discussed it and that weekend was our first real, official date.”

The surprise was clear on her face. “You two are dating?”

They both nodded.

“Well, I have to say, you’re a lot better at keeping that out of the office than Matt and Daisy have ever been. Okay. I’m starting to see the issues here. Judy and Jay, you can go back to what you were doing, Blake have a seat, you and I are going to talk.”

=MS=

Judy found herself back in Miss Tolliver’s office again two days later, this time on her own.

“I want to ask you, not only because of the issues that have happened around here, but because it’s an important question to ask… What are your plans beyond working at State?”

“I, um, I’m not sure yet.”

“I have a few things for you to consider and I was hoping we could discuss them. You have done exemplary work here; I and the Secretary are both more than willing to write glowing recommendations to help you find something new. But… I’ve noticed that you can’t seem to really trust any of us on the senior stuff now. I do understand why, don’t feel like that’s me calling you out. I’m just thinking that maybe State is no longer a good fit.”

“I can’t make myself forget how…betrayed I felt.”

“I see. And this thing with you and Jay, do you think it’s serious?”

“I hope so.”

“In the long run, it would be better if you weren’t in the same department. I know there isn’t technically a rule, but believe me, it can get tricky.” She drew a breath. “And… a transfer would get you away from Blake, who I can tell you still aren’t comfortable being around.” She looked Judy over. “I know if an opening coming up. It’s a good job.”

“Where?”

“You would be working under Russell Jackson.”

“I’ve heard stories about working for him.”

Nadine smirked. “He’s all bark, trust me. And he likes strong women. He’ll like you.”

“You- you think I’m strong?”

“I do.”


	28. Chapter 28

Judy looked up from the mountain of paperwork on her desk outside Russell Jackson’s office just as the Secretary and her new Chief of Staff swept in, the former clearly on a tear.

“He in?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Judy stood, not bothering to try and stop her former boss.

Her Chief of Staff, Jay, slowed to a stop. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

“Not a problem.”

Jay chuckled. “Plans tonight?”

Judy checked her watch. “I have drinks right after work, but then I can come by. You have Chloe?”

“Ah, I forgot that was tonight and yes, I do.”

They’d been dating ten months, she’d bee working for Russell eight of those and Jay had become Chief of Staff, a promotion that would’ve had her changing jobs or breaking up with him anyway, three weeks earlier. “Nadine likes to check in on me.” She was getting used to calling the older woman by her first name. “I think some of it is guilt.”

“I think most of it is she likes you.”

“Maybe.”

The Secretary stormed back out, making his attention begin to shift. “Make sure you make it, okay? Chloe and I want to see you tonight, it’s important.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” She watched him leave. She had a feeling she knew what tonight was about, so she’d make sure to cut drinks short. Shanking her head, Judy sat down again. A year ago it felt like her world was falling apart, but now? Now it was falling together.

If Jay proposed, she fully intended to say yes.


End file.
